'""^^        *?  ^f^  ' 


^OF-CAUFO^ 


c 


0  % 


At  the  Edge  of  the  Pit 


BY 


MILES  DOBSON,  C.  E. 

AUTHOR  OF 

"CAUCA,  THE  EDEN  OF  THE  ANDES" 

'THE  RECRUDESCENCE  OF  THE  PANAMA  FAILURE' 

(1894) 

"WHERE  GOLD  GROWS  ON  COFFEE  TREES" 
"THE  SIN  OF  ELECTROLYSIS" 

"SIDE  LIGHTS  ON  THE  BATSON  CASE" 
ETC.,  ETC. 


JULY,   1914 


NEWS  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
Pasadena,  California 


Copyrighted  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britian, 

by  the  Author, 

1914 


E 
LC,\.~1 


DEDICATED 

TO 
DUDLEY     H.    NORRIS 

My  companion  on  certain  Mexican  missions,  to 
whose  brilliant  wit,  and  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Mexico— territory,  people,  character,  in- 
dustries, literature,  language  and  laws  —  I  am 
much  indebted  for  historical  data  in  connection 
herewith.  — M.  D. 


"  You  shall  not  crucify  us 
on  a  cross  of  gold. " 

Neither  shall  you  prostitute 
our  dignity  and  power. 


At  the  Edge  of  the  Pit 


CHAPTER  I. 

"We  set  up  this  nation  and  we  proposed  to  set  it  up  on 
the  rights  of  man.  We  did  not  name  any  differences  be- 
tween one  race  and  another;  we  did  not  set  up  any  bar- 
riers against  any  particular  race  or  people,  but  opened 
our  gates  to  the  world  and  said :  'All  men  who  wish  to 
be  free,  come  to  its  and  they  will  be  welcome/  " — Presi- 
dent Wilson,  July  4th,  1914. 

There  are  five  human  races:  In  Africa  the  Ethiopian 
or  Black;  in  America  the  Indian  or  Red;  in  Asia  the 
Mongolian  or  Yellow,  including  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
and,  also  in  Asia,  the  Malays  or  Brown,  including  the  in- 
habitants of  British  India  and  in  Europe  the  Caucasian 
or  White. 

At  the  time  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
adopted  all  the  representatives  of  the  Ethiopian  race  in 
the  United  States  were  slaves  of  the  whites.  These  slaves 
or  their  fathers  had  been  seized  in  their  native  Africa, 
brought  to  America  and  sold  into  slavery,  which  con- 
tinued for  nearly  a  century  more  until  they  were  freed 
by  a  Republican  president.  Ever  since  their  emancipation 
and  at  the  present  time,  in  states  dominated  by  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  all  persons  of  African  blood  are  disfran- 
chised, not  by  law,  but  in  fact. 

The  Indians  were  here  when  the  whites  came,  in  full 
possession  of  their  territory  and  occupied  with  their  own 


8  AT    THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT 

pursuits.  They  have  been  exterminated  by  the  whites  and 
today  by  a  long  course  of  decisions  of  the  United  States 
courts  the  Indians  do  not  own  their  lands,  cannot  sell  or 
convey  them  and  are  included  in  a  political  class  with  mi- 
nors, convicts  and  insane  who  have  no  civil  rights. 

The  Asiatic  races  are  practically  excluded  from  this 
country  and  those  here  are  in  many  states  prohibited 
from  owning  land,  from  acquiring  American  citizenship 
and  from  other  civil  rights  and  thus  out  of  the  five  races 
into  which  human  beings  are  divided,  four  of  them  have 
met  at  the  hands  of  the  American  people,  with  slavery, 
disfranchisement,  extermination,  exclusion  and  denial  of 
the  ordinary  personal  property  and  political  rights  en- 
joyed by  "Americans."  It  is  a  fact  too  clear  for  argu- 
ment that  this  is  a  white  man's  country  and  a  white  man's 
government  and  that  other  races,  black,  yellow,  red  and 
brown  are  not  welcome. 

Mr.  Wilson  touches  on  the  Mexican  question  and  says : 
"Eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  Mexican  people  have  not 
been  allowed  to  have  a  look-in  in  regard  to  their  Govern- 
ment and  the  rights  which  have  been  exercised  by  the 
other  15  per  cent.  Do  you  suppose  that  circumstance  is 
not  sometimes  in  my  thoughts?" 

These  people  disqualified  are  Mexican  Indians  but  they 
are  not  disqualified  by  law  any  more  than  the  negroes  of 
Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  other  southern  states  under 
Democratic  control  are  disqualified  by  law,  whereas  un- 
der the  government  of  Mr.  Wilson,  American  Indians  do 
owe  their  disqualifications  to  positive  statutory  enact- 
ments. If  Mr.  Wilson's  bosom,  like  Mr.  Devery's  of  New 
York,  is  agitated  by  sympathy  for  the  "down-trod,"  let 
him  begin  his  charitable  work  at  home  among  his  own 
American  Indians  before  going  abroad  for  objects  of 
sympathy. 


AT   THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  9 

In  his  interview  with  Sam  Blythe  in  the  Saturday  Ev- 
ening Post  of  May  25th,  1914,  Mr.  Wilson  said:  "We 
shall  not  demand  a  foot  of  territory  nor  a  cent  of  money 
— except,  of  course,  the  settlement  of  such  claims  as  may 
justly  be  made  by  American  citizens  for  damages  to  their 
property  during  these  disturbances.  There  will  be  no 
money  demand  in  a  national  sense." 

In  the  Niagara  Falls  mediation,  Mr.  Wilson  repeated 
that  there  would  be  no  indemnity  demanded  of  Mexico, 
meaning,  as  before,  that  no  national  indemnity  would  be 
demanded  for  the  expenses  of  the  army  and  navy  in  oc- 
cupying the  Gulf  Ports ;  but  he  emphatically  says  in  the 
Blythe  interview,  that  individual  losses  must  be  paid  and 
he  repeats  this  in  his  Fourth  of  July  oration  in  these 
words :  "You  hear  a  great  deal  stated  about  the  prop- 
erty loss  in  Mexico,  and  I  deplore  it  with  all  my  heart. 
Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  present  disturbed  conditions 
in  Mexico  undoubtedly  those  who  have  lost  property 
ought  to  be  compensated." 

Mexico  and  the  Mexicans  are  welcome  to  such  slight 
comfort  as  they  may  get  from  Mr.  Wilson's  pretty  talk 
about  the  rights  of  man ;  but  they  must  consider  as  omi- 
nous the  threats  contained  in  Mr.  Wilson's  two  utterances 
quoted  above  that  the  losses  of  property  due  to  the  Mex- 
ican revolution  must  be  paid. 

It  is  well  known  that  before  the  Madero  revolution, 
foreigners  owned  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  capital  in- 
vested in  Mexico  and  that  the  part  owned  by  Mexicans 
was  almost  wholly  in  real  property,  so  that  it  is  the  literal 
truth  that  the  business  of  Mexico  was  in  the  hands  of 
foreigners.  Notwithstanding  these  immense  interests  the 
foreigners  had  no  voice  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs 
and  have  since  been  absolutely  powerless  to  defend  their 
property,  their  liberty  or  even  their  lives  against  any 


10  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

Mexican  influence  or  person,  whatever,  who  may  have 
the  means  and  disposition  to  injure  them. 

There  are,  more  or  less,  14,000  miles  of  railroad  in 
Mexico  mortgaged  to  foreigners  as  security  for  money 
loaned  and  in  the  public  disturbances  of  the  past  three 
years  the  value  of  this  security  has  been  almost  totally 
destroyed.  The  right  of  way  has  been  torn  up  for  forti- 
fications, the  rails  have  been  heated  in  fires  made  of  their 
own  ties  and  bent  and  twisted  past  any  further  useful- 
ness. The  stations,  warehouses  and  bridges  have  been 
looted,  burned  or  dynamited.  The  rolling  stock  and  en- 
gines have  been  misused  and  destroyed.  There  is  no 
longer  any  railroad  traffic  in  Mexico  and  no  pretense  of 
meeting  financial  obligations  in  the  payment  of  interest 
on  the  money  lent. 

In  like  manner  prosperous  enterprises  throughout 
Mexico,  ranch,  mine,  factory,  commercial  and  other  in- 
dustrial investments  made  by  foreigners  are  ruined  and 
looted.  Cattle  are  driven  off.  Horses  and  other  personal 
belongings  that  strike  the  fancy  of  the  raiders  are  taken. 
Men  are  insulted  and  murdered.  Women  are  outraged 
and  wanton  destruction  of  houses,  machinery  and  im- 
provements of  all  kinds  goes  on  without  interference  and 
the  vital  question  now  is,  not  some  fine  point  of  interna- 
tional law,  not  as  to  firing  a  salute,  but  who  is  to  be  held 
accountable  for  all  this  injury?  Who  is  going  to  pay  the 
bill? 

Mr.  Wilson  has  twice  said  that  these  losses  ought  to  be 
compensated ;  but  by  whom  and  how  ?  The  losses  will  be 
perhaps  some  $700,000,000.  Must  these  fall  upon  the 
original  sufferer?  Must  the  Mormon  of  Sonora  go  back 
to  his  looted  and  burned  ranch  and  begin  again  from  the 
ruins  and  rebuild  with  the  chance  of  being  compelled  to 
flee  for  his  life  a  few  vears  hence  when  another  revolu- 


AT    THE    EDGE    OF    THE    PIT  11 

tion  breaks  out?  Must  the  miner  pump  out  his  flooded 
mine,  retimber  his  shafts  and  drifts,  renew  his  rusted 
machinery  and  rebuild  his  reduction  works,  ready  for  the 
next  self-proclaimed  provisional  president  to  lay  waste? 
Must  the  railroad  bond-holder  rebuild  and  restock  the 
railroads  that  do  not  belong  to  him  in  order  to  save  some- 
thing of  his  money  lent?  If  not,  who  will  pay?  Will 
Congress  consider  that  such  an  obligation  springs  from 
the  Monroe  Doctrine?  Such  a  law  would  not  get  fifty 
votes.  Will  Congress  pay  the  bill  and  charge  it  to  Mex- 
ico? No  such  thing  is  possible.  Mexico  would  repudiate 
the  obligation  and  she  could  not  pay  if  she  wanted  to. 
The  situation  is  not  entirely  new.  We  had  some  such  an 
experience  in  1847.  We  were  in  possession  of  a  consider- 
able part  of  Mexico  then  and,  by  reason  of  our  occupa- 
tion of  the  Capital  City  of  Mexico,  in  constructive  pos- 
session of  the  entire  country. 

When  Japan  at  the  Portsmouth  Conference  claimed 
certain  territory  and  an  indemnity,  the  point  was  raised 
that  no  claim  could  be  made  unless  based  upon  actual  oc- 
cupation of  the  territory  claimed.  The  same  point  came 
up  in  the  conference  that  followed  the  Russian  war 
against  Turkey  and  it  is  a  well  recognized  principle.  If 
we  occupy  Mexico  City  and  keep  it,  that  objection  will 
not  be  urged  and  the  programme  of  1848  will  serve  for 
the  new  performance;  but  if  we  establish  peace  without 
occupying  the  City  of  Mexico,  or  if  we  evacuate  after  oc- 
cupation, how  shall  we  compel  payment  of  our  bill  for 
damages?  Mr.  Wilson  has  declared  most  emphatically 
that  we  will  not  wage  a  war  of  conquest  and  he  undoubt- 
edly thinks  he  means  it,  but  incidentally,  after  the  battle 
of  Cerro  Gordo,  in  1847,  General  Scott  in  a  proclamation 
issued  to  the  people  of  Mexico  assured  them,  that  he  was 
not  fighting  against  the  people  of  Mexico  but  only  against 


12  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

their  bad  rulers.  This  proclamation  was  considered  a 
wonderful  stroke  of  diplomacy  on  General  Scott's  part. 
At  any  rate  he  went  on  to  Puebla  and  the  City  of  Mexico 
and  before  he  left  that  city  the  bad  rulers  of  Mexico  had 
been  fined,  more  or  less,  half  the  national  domain  and  the 
United  States  hud,  counting  Texas,  doubled  its  area  at 
Mexico's  expense. 

In  considering  our  relations  with  Mexico  three  ele- 
ments must  be  kept  in  view :  the  character  of  the  Mexi- 
can Indian,  who  after  all  comprises  15,000,000  out  of  18,- 
000,000  of  the  entire  population  of  that  country;  the 
Spanish  character  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon.  Any  one  who  really  is  acquainted  with  Mexico 
must  realize  that  the  Mexican  Indian  is  just  about  the 
same  as  he  was  before  Cortez  landed  on  Mexican  soil. 
He  was  not  a  Christian  then  and  he  cannot  be  called  a 
Christian  now.  He  is  no  more  of  the  Christian  religion 
than  is  the  negro  of  Louisiana  or  the  West  Indies,  the 
blanket  Indian  of  our  own  western  plains  or  the  Chinese 
member  of  the  Sunday  School  with  the  pretty  teacher. 
Their  religion  is  a  form  of  semi-idolatry  at  the  best. 
True,  there  is  in  Mexico  a  splendid  Catholic  hierarchy 
that  up  to  a  century  ago  was  omnipotent  in  every  depart- 
ment of  life ;  but  the  poor  Indian  was  no  part  of  it  any 
more  than  was  the  earth  it  rested  on.  There  is  only  the 
fact  that  he  has  been  baptized  that  gives  any  claim  at  all 
that  he  is  a  Christian. 

In  1529,  a  Flemish  monk,  Peter  of  Ghent,  said  that  he 
and  another  monk  had  converted  200,000  Mexicans,  their 
ordinary  work  running  as  high  as  10,000  in  a  single  day. 
A  few  years  after  the  conquest  the  monks  reported  the 
number  of  converts  as  4,000,000.  In  the  mountains  not 
far  from  Mexico  City  can  be  seen  today  white  worn  as 
mourning;  fireworks  at  funerals,  tinsel  crowns  and  fan- 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  13 

tastic  colored  shrouds  upon  the  dead  and  grotesque  cere- 
monials on  festive  occasions  that  belonged  to  the  ancient 
Aztec  religions.  At  Christmas  they  enact  the  actual  birth 
of  Jesus.  Mary  appears,  evidently  about  to  become  a 
mother,  and  after  a  triumphal  procession  the  priest  takes 
from  beneath  her  skirts  the  infant  Jesus,  in  swaddling 
bands,  who  is  first  placed  upon  the  altar  and  then  march- 
ed around  the  church. 

An  essential  element  of  the  Spanish  character  is 
cruelty.  Cortez  and  his  followers  invaded  and  possessed 
the  territory  of  the  Mexicans,  occupied  their  cities,  took 
away  their  treasures,  ravished  their  daughters,  extermi- 
nated the  resisting  and  converted,  baptized  and  enslaved 
the  survivors.  The  natives  were  held  as  the  merest  serfs 
and  slaves,  having  no  rights  that  a  Spaniard  was  bound 
to  respect.  With  the  grant  to  Cortez  of  a  vast  tract  of 
land  near  Cuernavaca  was  included,  in  so  many  words, 
the  gift  of  100,000  peons,  over  whom  he  had  the  power 
of  life  and  death. 

There  remains  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  corner  stone  of 
whose  character  is  hypocrisy.  Where  the  Spaniards  sent 
their  soldiers  first  and  followed  them  up  with  their 
priests,  we  send  our  missionaries  first  and  later  on  our 
soldiers.  The  savage  is  first  converted  and  then  con- 
quered. He  first  comes  to  Jesus  and  then  to  John  Bull. 
As  Joseph  Choate  said,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  on  landing 
on  Plymouth  Rock,  first  fell  upon  their  knees  and  then 
they  fell  upon  the  aborigines.  And  the  most  delicious 
part  of  it  is  the  unconsciousness  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  of 
this  trait  of  his  character,  due  largely  to  a  defective  sense 
of  humor  and  partly  to  the  deadening  effect  of  having 
been  born  that  way.  It  is  like  garlic  to  an  Italian.  He 
has  it  every  meal ;  he  smells  of  it ;  but  he  is  entirely  un- 
conscious of  it.  So  when  Mr.  Wilson  begged  Congress 


14  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

with  tears  in  his  voice  to  repeal  the  free  canal  tolls  and 
alleged  certain  foreign  diplomatic  complications  as  his 
reason  and  afterward  admitted  that  there  were  no  such 
complications,  he  must  not  be  charged  with  dishonesty 
nor  in  the  alternative  with  lack  of  intelligence.  He  is  a 
true  Anglo-Saxon  and  when  he  says  a  thing,  for  the  mo- 
ment he  honestly  thinks  that  he  believes  it.  The  French 
have  never  understood  our  real  honesty  of  purpose  and 
they  call  England  "Albion  perfide." 

The  Abbe  Domenech,  a  French  attache  of  the  court  of 
the  Mexican  Emperor  Maximillian,  said  that  the  English 
and  the  Americans  had  identical  policies.  In  questions  of 
honor  and  humanity  that  did  not  touch  their  interests 
they  did  not  interfere ;  but  in  questions  purely  political  or 
of  national  sympathy  there  was  a  great  deal  of  noise  but 
no  drawing  of  the  sword,  but  merely  menace  or  conces- 
sion according  to  the  interest  of  the  moment.  Of  the 
Americans  he  said  that  they  knew  how  to  clear  up  a 
country,  to  cultivate  land,  to  make  machines,  as  they  do 
not  in  Europe ;  and  further,  that  when  the  English  prime 
minister  took  snuff  the  Washington  cabinet  sneezed. 

Mr.  Wilson  said  in  the  Blythe  interview:  "To  some 
extent  the  situation  in  Mexico  is  similar  to  that  in  France 
at  the  time  of  the  Revolution.  There  are  wide  differences 
in  many  ways,  but  the  basic  situation  has  many  resem- 
blances." It  is  not  only  similar  to  the  French  Revolution. 
It  IS  the  French  Revolution  revived. 

When  the  scientific  expeditions  were  started  on  their 
way  to  rifle  the  ancient  pyramids  and  royal  tombs  of 
Egypt,  they  made  many  wonderful  discoveries.  It  was 
said  that  grains  of  wheat  that  had  been  buried  with  the 
dead  were  taken  from  the  sepulchres  and  had  sprouted 
and  borne  fruit  after  thousands  of  years  of  burial  and 
fears  were  aroused  that  perhaps  germs  of  diseases  of 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT  15 

which  the  buried  kings  had  died  might  still  have  the 
power  to  reproduce  among  the  highly  scientific  and  re- 
spectable grave  robbers  the  plagues  of  the  Pharoahs.  For- 
tunately this  did  not  come  to  pass  and  these  worthy  gen- 
tlemen were  reserved  for  a  less  poetic  fate.  The  Ameri- 
cans are  responsible,  however,  for  preserving  in  accessi- 
ble form  the  microbes  of  the  French  Revolution  which 
have  innoculated  Spanish  America  as  they  issued  in  a 
cloud  from  the  opening  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence in  countries  south  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

The  sentiment  among  all  good  Americans  toward  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  is  a  sort  of  fetichism,  as  the 
essence  of  Americanism,  whereas  we  have  our  doubts 
about  the  Constitution,  judging  from  the  unceasing  at- 
tempts to  change  it.  We  look  upon  it  as  all  good  Chris- 
tians look  upon  the  Old  Testament.  We  all  believe  in  it, 
we  are  ready  to  fight  for  it,,  but  very  few  read  it.  Not 
one  American  in  ten  thousand  ever  read  the  Declaration 
all  through,  and  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  will  quote 
its  best  known  phrase,  "All  men  are  created  free  and 
equal."  Most  of  the  indictment  part  of  the  Declaration 
was  the  work  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  The  introduction 
contains  certain  political  doctrines  generally  supposed  by 
all  good  Americans  to  have  been  original  with  Thomas 
Jefferson.  As  a  matter  of  fact  Jefferson  took  his  ideas 
from  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  a  brilliant  Frenchman 
whose  writings  were  most  potent  factors  in  the  French 
Revolution.  Jefferson  first  published  the  substance  of  the 
Declaration  in  1774  and  afterwards  worked  the  same  ma- 
terial into  the  Declaration  two  years  later,  a  good  deal 
like  his  great  disciple  Mr.  Bryan,  now  Secretary  of  State, 
did  with  the  Crown  of  Thorns  and  Cross  of  Gold,  made 
them  do  double  duty. 

Rousseau's  most  famous  followers  were  Robespierre, 


16  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

the  monster  of  the  French  Revolution,  Jefferson  and 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  Rousseau  wrote  on  every  topic  un- 
der the  sun  and  he  had  an  adoring  public  to  read  his 
work.  He  urged,  among  other  things,  that  French  moth- 
ers nurse  their  babies,  anticipating  much  of  Roosevelt's 
writings  on  race  suicide.  When  the  Philadelphia  conven- 
tion, consisting  largely  of  slave  holders,  decreed  that  all 
men  were  created  equal  it  was  not  merely  intended  to 
mean  that  all  men  stood  equal  before  the  law ;  but  it  was 
an  emphatic  acceptance  of  the  account  of  the  creation  as 
contained  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis.  Man  was  cre- 
ated. In  the  language  of  the  Bible,  "Let  us  make  man  in 
our  image,  after  our  likeness"  and  instantly  where  there 
had  been  nothing  the  moment  before,  there  stood  Adam, 
freshly  created  and,  according  to  the  Declaration,  en- 
dowed by  his  creator,  presumably  at  the  instant  of  crea- 
tion, with  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  among 
other  assets,  such  as  tonsils  and  a  veriform  appendix, 
which,  not  mentioned  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  list,  were 
undoubtedly  among  those  present.  In  France,  eighteen 
years  after  the  Declaration  was  adopted  Robespierre, 
Rousseau's  great  disciple,  caused  to  be  enacted  a  law  de- 
creeing the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  another  affirm- 
ing the  existence  of  the  Supreme  Being  which  was  for- 
mally proclaimed  and  ratified  on  June  8th,  1794,  in  the 
city  of  Paris  with  great  ceremony  and  known  as  the 
Feast  of  God  at  which  Robespierre  officiated  as  Pontiff. 
One  unfortunate  phrase  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence is  that  governments  derive  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  it  is  the  unanimous 
belief  through  all  Spanish  America,  that  this  means  that 
if  you  don't  like  the  existing  government  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  is  your  warrant  for  revolting.  That  one 
phrase  is  a  true  Pandora's  box  and  infinite  loss,  discord, 


AT    THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  17 

strife,  bloodshed  and  war  have  been  caused  in  Spanish 
America  by  it.  There  is  only  one  other  phrase  like  it.  An 
old  father  of  the  church  once  exclaimed  that  the  words 
"Search  the  Scriptures"  had  undone  the  World,  meaning 
that  thereby  unbelief  had  been  caused  on  the  part  of  the 
searchers.  Is  it  true  that  government  derives  its  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed  ?  Consider  the 
case  of  a  state's  prison,  and  surely  that  is  a  part  of  gov- 
ernment, or  a  regiment  of  conscripts  enlisted  against 
their  will.  Does  the  warden  of  the  prison  or  the  colonel 
of  the  regiment  derive  his  just  powers,  or  any  powers 
at  all,  from  the  consent  of  his  men?  Absolutely  not.  The 
poor  devils  have  no  choice.  Jefferson  got  this  idea  from 
Rousseau's  "Social  Contract"  published  in  1762.  Rous- 
seau was  a  poor  student  of  history.  His  fervid  imagina- 
tion would  not  brook  the  drudgery  of  historical  research 
and  he  jumped  to  the  conclusion,  absolutely  without  ba- 
sis, that  away  back  in  antiquity  the  individuals  composing 
human  society  voluntarily  and  unanimously  entered  into 
a  contract  among  themselves  providing  for  all  the  institu- 
tions of  government  and  that  this  contract  was  binding 
upon  their  descendants  forever.  All  were  bound  by  it. 
Kings  to  govern,  nobles  to  command  and  subjects  to 
obey. 

In  his  book  on  Rousseau,  Lord  Morley,  the  great  Eng- 
lish historian,  sums  up  the  social  contract  fallacy  thus : 
"The  obedience  of  the  subject  to  the  sovereign  has  its 
root  not  in  contract  but  in  force, — the  force  of  the  sover- 
eign to  punish  disobedience.  A  man  does  not  consent  to 
be  put  to  death  if  he  shall  commit  a  murder,  for  the  rea- 
son alleged  by  Rousseau,  namely,  as  a  means  of  protect- 
ing his  own  life  against  murder.  There  is  no  consent  in 
the  transaction.  Some  person  or  persons  possessed  of 
sovereign  authority,  promulgated  a  command  that  the 


18  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

subject  should  not  commit  murder  and  appointed  penal- 
ties for  such  commission  and  it  was  not  a  fictitious  as- 
sent to  these  penalties,  but  the  fact  that  the  sovereign  was 
strong  enough  to  enforce  them,  which  made  the  com- 
mand valid." 

Some  years  ago  typhoid  fever  broke  out  sporadically 
in  many  places  in  New  York  City  but  with  no  known, 
source  of  infection.  It  was  at  length  noticed  that  these 
outbreaks  of  typhoid  followed  the  presence  of  a  certain 
domestic  servant  who  had  been  employed  in  every  house 
where  the  fever  afterwards  appeared  but  who  was  her- 
self free  from  the  disease.  On  examination  it  was  dis- 
covered that  her  clothing  and  personal  belongings  were 
infected  with  typhoid  germs  and  "Typhoid  Mary,"  as 
she  was  thereafter  called,  was  sent  to  a  public  institution 
for  fumigation.  The  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  re- 
spect of  spreading  the  germs  of  revolution,  is  the  Ty- 
phoid Mary  of  Spanish  America. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  intended  for  ex- 
ternal application  only:  an  irritant,  a  mustard  plaster, 
and  if  by  misadventure  it  is  used  internally  it  sets  the  pa- 
tient ablaze. 

The  trim,  black,  rakish  craft  Declaration,  her  hull  by 
Franklin  and  her  top  hamper  by  Rousseau,  was  gaily  sent 
by  Jefferson,  the  jolly  Roger  at  her  peak,  upon  her  merry 
cruise  of  destruction.  She  is  still  cruising  and  Spanish 
America  is  still  burning. 

The  true  function  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  not  as  a  statement  of  principles  but  as  a  declaration 
of  war.  It  was  a  parley  before  the  battle.  In  the  play  of 
Julius  Caesar  before  the  battle  of  Phillippi  the  opposing 
generals  met  and  Brutus  said :  "Words  before  blows :  Is 
it  not  so,  countrymen?"  Then  Augustus  answers:  "Not 
that  we  love  words  better,  as  you  do."  Then  follows  more 


19 

naughty  talk  and  the  battle  is  on.  In  Henry  V  also  the 
French  heralds  bandy  insults  with  the  English  King.  In 
one  of  the  many  wars  between  France  and  England  the 
English  commander  invited  the  French  general,  "Fire, 
Gentlemen  of  the  French  Army,"  to  which  he  answered, 
"Fire,  Gentlemen  of  the  English  army,  we  never  fire  first.' 
Then  some  one  blazed  away  and  everybody  joined  in.  Any 
overt  act  is  enough  to  start  a  fight.  "Do  you  bite  your 
thumb  at  me,  sir  ?"  Boys  put  chips  on  their  shoulders.  Prize 
fighters  and  Mr.  Roosevelt  shy  their  casters  into  the  ring 
but  it  all  amounts  to  the  same  thing :  "Come  out,  you  cad, 
and  fight."  And  that  is  all  there  is  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  except  that  it  gave  a  good  Democrat,  Mr. 
Jefferson,  an  opportunity  to  make  a  rattling  good  speech. 
All  attempts  to  realize  in  practice  the  French  notions 
of  liberty  set  forth  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
have  brought  ruin.  In  the  United  States,  from  1776,  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention  in  1787,  the  net  results 
were  general  bankruptcy,  Shay's  rebellion,  anarchy  and 
state  nullification  of  laws  passed  by  Congress ;  in  France, 
the  Reign  of  Terror,  with  the  Empire  as  a  sequence  and 
in  Spanish  America,  never-ending  revolutions.  The  Span- 
ish American  interprets  the  promises  offered  as  meaning 
not  only  mere  animal  existence,  but  the  means  of  living 
also.  Liberty,  he  considers  as  absence  of  governmental 
restraint  and  the  happiness  which  he  deems  his  due  is 
that  it  shall  come  to  him  without  work.  A  very  pretty 
philosophy,  "The  world  owes  us  a  living.  Let's  have  a 
dance."  Under  the  directory  this  philosophy  was  tried. 
In  Paris  there  was  absolute  personal  liberty  in  private  life 
and  individual  immorality  was  rampant.  Never  was  Paris 
gayer.  Never  in  the  history  of  modern  fashions  had 
women  in  decent  social  position  gone  so  scantily  and  so 
voluptuously  clad  and  the  typical  male  Parisian  was  a 


20  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

simpering  man  of  fashion  whose  conversation  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  continual  repetition  in  a  high  falsetto : 
"C  est  incroyable."  (It  is  incredible.)  The  materials  of 
his  costume  were  of  gorgeous  silks  and  satins ;  the  trous- 
ers tight  fitting,  with  the  waist  line  high  up  under  the 
arms,  a  fancy  waistcoat,  a  high  collar  and  stock,  a  "swal- 
low tailed"  coat  with  a  short  body,  a  narrow  coat  tail 
reaching  to  the  ground,  an  immense  beaver  hat,  the  whole 
on  a  foundation  of  supporting  foot  straps.  So  completely 
had  he  and  the  costume  become  associated  with  the  word 
"Incroyable"  that  they  are  known  in  history  as  the  "In- 
croyables"  and  the  French  influence  over  American  ideas 
and  politics  is  shown  in  that  Uncle  Sam,  the  one  figure 
typifying  American  nationality,  as  John  Bull  typifies 
the  British,  is  always  dressed  in  the  costume  worn  by  the 
French  Dandy  of  the  bloodiest  epoch  of  modern  history, 
by  the  Incroyable  of  the  Reign  of  Terror. 

Though  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  a  direct 
importation  from  France,  the  Constitution  is  a  purely 
American  product.  We  had,  of  course,  the  English  com- 
mon law  and  the  example  of  the  English  government ;  but 
there  had  never  been  a  representative  of  the  royal  author- 
ity on  this  side  of  the  water  and  when  the  American  col- 
onies achieved  their  independence  there  were  thirteen 
lines  of  communication  cut  and  the  general  government 
yet  to  be  established,  must  be  accepted  by  each  colony  to 
make  it  binding  on  all.  After  over  eleven  years  of  the 
Confederation  and  its  inadequacy  proved,  the  Constitu- 
tion was  framed  and  adopted.  Of  the  two  documents  it 
is  true  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  the 
work  of  the  Democratic  party  and  the  Constitution  was 
the  work  of  the  Federalist  party.  Jefferson  had  no  part 
in  making  the  Constitution.  He  was  not  even  a  delegate 
to  the  convention,  being  in  the  government  service  abroad. 


AT    THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  21 

Jefferson  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  Constitution.  He 
had  no  recent  experience  in  constructive  government  and 
he  had  not  advanced  in  the  intervening  years  beyond  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  He  was  still  toying  with 
liberty  after  it  had  under  the  Confederation  degenerated 
into  practical  anarchy,  whereas  the  delegates  to  the  Con- 
stitutional convention  believed  that  society  exists  for  the 
preservation  of  property. 

This  is  the  lesson  that  Spanish  America  has  still  to 
learn.  Better  for  them  had  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence never  been  written,  than  that  they  suffer  the  hor- 
rors of  the  French  revolution,  even  to  the  alleged  erec- 
tion of  a  guillotine  in  a  Mexican  village.  It  is  useless  to 
merely  copy  a  foreign  constitution  that  is  not  the  out- 
growth of  the  national  life.  When  Mexico  became  free 
there  was  a  representative  in  that  country  of  the  royal 
authority,  the  Viceroy,  and  when  the  separation  came 
but  one  line  of  communication  was  severed,  that  between 
the  Viceroy  and  the  king.  The  relations  existing  between 
the  Viceroy  and  the  rest  of  Mexico  were  not  changed, 
except  in  name.  It  is  true  enough  that  there  was  a  re- 
christening  all  around  and  the  Viceroy  was  called  the 
President  and  the  former  provinces  were  now  independ- 
ent and  sovereign  states,  if  you  believe  the  letter  of  their 
laws,  which  the  Good  Book  says  killeth;  but  the  fact  re- 
mains that  the  chief  executive  of  Mexico  still  wields  the 
power  of  both  Viceroy  and  king  and  the  various  constit- 
uent divisions  of  the  country  are  as  completely  under  his 
domination  as  they  ever  were,  anything  to  the  contrary 
contained  in  the  Mexican  constitution,  notwithstanding. 

The  Confederation,  after  the  Colonies  became  inde- 
pendent, followed  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence. Everybody  was  free.  There  was  no  national 
authority.  The  government  was  bankrupt.  Congress 


22  AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT 

passed  laws  which  had  to  be  approved  by  the  states  and 
after  eleven  years  of  chaos  under  Jeffersonian  principles, 
the  Declaration  was  abandoned  and  the  constitution  was 
adopted.  It  was  a  compromise  and  there  were  a  number 
of  amendments  that  were  afterwards  adopted  which  add- 
ed to  its  efficiency.  The  Federal  government  came  into 
possession  of  the  lands  of  the  Western  Reserve,  consist- 
ing of  all  the  territory  west  of  the  present  boundaries  of 
the  original  thirteen  states.  This  was  a  great  source  of 
wealth  to  the  government,  established  its  financial  credit 
and  with  the  new  Federalist  constitution  the  nation  start- 
ed on  its  wonderful  career,  the  basis  of  which  was  not  so 
much  liberty  as  wealth. 

After  twelve  years  of  federal  administration  under 
Washington  and  John  Adams,  the  Democrats  under  Jef- 
ferson came  into  power.  The  constitution  did  not  satisfy 
Hamilton  because  the  Federal  authority  was  restricted 
and  it  did  not  satisfy  Jefferson  because  the  same  author- 
ity was  too  great.  John  Adams  named  as  chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  John  Marshall,  who  stands  with 
Washington  and  Hamilton  as  the  greatest  of  American 
statesmen, — Marshall's  decisions  uniformly  favored  the 
extension  of  the  Federal  authority  and  made  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  not  Congress,  the  greatest  power  in  the  gov- 
ernment. Jefferson  hated  Marshall  and  Madison  nomi- 
nated Story  to  the  Supreme  Court  to  counteract  Mar- 
shall's influence,  but  Story  agreed  with  the  views  of  Mar- 
shall and  the  work  of  the  court  continued  along  the  lines 
established. 

History  truly  does  repeat  itself.  In  the  good  old  days 
of  King  John  of  England  there  was  trouble  between  the 
King  and  the  pope  over  the  appointment  of  Steven  Lang- 
ton  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  as  a  result  the  pope 
first  issued  an  interdict  and  then  a  bull  of  excommunica- 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  23 

tion  against  John  and  for  years  England  suffered  almost 
the  horrors  of  civil  war.  At  length  the  pope  declared  the 
throne  of  England  vacant  and  bestowed  it  on  Philip  of 
France  who  promptly  prepared  to  cross  the  channel  and 
take  possession ;  but  John  had  had  enough,  so  he  gave  up 
the  fight,  saluted  the  flag,  was  forgiven  by  the  pope  and 
became  a  favored  son  of  the  church.  This  goes  to  show 
what  a  vast  amount  of  damage  to  an  entire  nation  can 
be  caused  by  the  irresponsible  whim  of  a  truly  good  man, 
and  of  course  the  pope  must  have  been  a  truly  good  man 
or  he  couldn't  have  been  pope. 

A  government  is  like  a  corporation,  a  bank,  a  railroad, 
or  a  person,  natural  or  artificial.  It  exists  by  reason  of  its 
inherent  strength,  of  its  ability  to  maintain  itself.  The 
rule  of  life  is  "Eat  or  be  eaten"  and  the  new  beatitude  is 
"Blessed  are  the  fittest  for  they  shall  survive." 

Liberty,  freedom  from  restraint,  is  not  the  birthright 
of  the  individual;  rather  the  reverse,  subjection,  slavery, 
if  you  will.  Helpless  infancy,  childhood  and  adolescence, 
all  find  us  in  a  position  of  utter  dependence.  We  must  be 
supported  during  these  years,  fed,  clothed,  and  educated. 
With  manhood  comes  the  necessity  of  finding  visible 
means  of  support,  failing  which  man  becomes  a  vagrant, 
a  criminal,  degraded  and  outcast.  If  he  succeeds  in  life 
he  is  the  slave  of  his  employment,  of  his  business,  of  the 
conventionalities  that  society  imposes  upon  him  and  the 
greater  his  success,  the  stronger  his  obligations  and  the 
less  his  true  liberty. 

The  real  Mexican  question  is  "WHO  IS  GOING  TO 
PAY  THE  BILL?"  And  in  this  connection  it  may  be 
further  asked,  "WHERE  IS  THE  MONEY  TO  COME 
FROM?"  After  the  various  presidents,  provisional  and 
otherwise,  have  thoroughly  exhausted  that  country  and 
peace  reigns  in  Mexico  as  it  reigned  in  Warsaw,  a  gov- 


24  AT    THE    EDGE    OF    THE    PIT 

ernment  may  arise  sufficiently  stable  to  receive  the  claims 
of  the  foreigners  who  have  suffered  in  person  and  estate 
during  the  long  period  of  unrest. 

Ignoring  for  the  moment  the  greatest  of  the  foreign 
claimants,  the  Americans,  there  are  the  Spaniards,  in 
whose  hands  are  the  sugar  and  grocery  trades  and  whose 
shops,  all  over  the  republic,  have  been  looted  and  whose 
people  have  been  robbed,  tortured,  murdered  and  ex- 
pelled. Then  come  the  French,  who  control  the  dry  goods 
trade  and  who  are  bankers  and  miners ;  the  Germans; 
who  have  the  hardware  trades,  mines  and  metallurgical 
works ;  the  Belgians,  railroad  securities,  and  finally  the 
English,  as  owners  or  mortgagees  of  the  Mexican,  Inter- 
oceanic,  Tehuantepec,  Southern,  North-Western  and, 
National  railroads,  oil  wells  and  refineries  at  Tampico, 
and  in  Vera  Cruz  and  ranches  and  industrial  establish- 
ments all  over  the  country.  ALL  these  foreign  claimants 
have  suffered  spoilation,  robbery,  insult  and  murder  and 
all  are  holders  of  Mexican  securities  on  which  default 
has  been  made. 

The  time  will  come  when  the  claims  for  damage  will 
be  demanded.  Can  Mexico  pay  without  intolerant  taxa- 
tion, which  impost,  will  engender  further  revolutions? 
Can  Mexico  pay  the  bill  at  all  ?  It  is  doubtful. 

The  situation  today  is  practically  identical  with  that  of 
1861  when  the  Convention  was  held  in  London  and  the 
claims  against  Mexico  were  urged  by  the  governments 
of  France,  England  and  Spain  for  losses  of  their  sub- 
jects. 

The  result  was,  even  as  today,  that  Vera  Cruz  was  oc- 
cupied not  by  Americans  but  by  the  allied  forces  of 
France,  England  and  Spain  in  support  of  the  allies'  de- 
mand for  the  payment  of  claims. 


25 

The  United  States  offered  to  assume  Mexico's  indebt- 
edness and  England  and  Spain  withdrew,  but  the  United 
States  were  then  in  the  toils  of  civil  war  and  the  security 
did  not  satisfy  Napoleon  III  and  French  troops  were 
landed,  notwithstanding  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  there 
followed  the  Franco-Mexican  intervention,  and  the  Em- 
peror, Maximillian. 

In  the  meantime  the  American  claimants  are  heard 
from  and  in  no  uncertain  tones  demand  that  the  Wash- 
ington government  protect  them  and  that  their  interests 
do  not  suffer  in  competition  with  the  NON  AMERICAN 
foreign  claimants.  One  of  three  courses  must  be  taken 
by  the  United  States :  First,  They  may  refuse  to  entertain 
any  proposition  whatever  from  the  non-American  foreign 
claimants,  leaving  them  free  to  make  their  naval  demon- 
stration, land  their  troops,  occupy  the  custom  houses  and 
collect  their  claims.  If  with  their  refusal  the  United 
States  declare  that  such  landing  and  occupation  would 
be  construed  as  unfriendly  acts,  and  the  unfriendly  acts 
were  committed  there  would  result  practically  a  case  of 
war  with  the  allied  claimants.  Second :  The  United  States 
might  approve  of  the  joint  occupation,  take  part  in  the 
naval  demonstration  and  receive  a  due  share  of  the  cus- 
toms receipts. 

In  both  of  these  two  cases,  involving  either  joint  or  non 
American  foreign  intervention  in  Mexico,  that  would  be 
the  last  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  and  the  partition  of  Latin 
America  among  the  nations  of  Europe  would  follow  as  a 
matter  of  course  and  at  their  convenience.  The  Japanese 
could  establish  themselves  at  Magdalena  Bay,  the  Ger- 
mans at  some  desirable  Central  American  point  and  a  few 
European  regiments  would  make  short  work  of  taking 
the  Panama  Canal  by  attacking  on  the  land  side  and  hold- 
ing one  of  the  Pacific  locks. 


26 

But  one  other  course  remains,  the  American  occupation 
of  Mexico  and  the  payment  of  all  foreign  claimants  with 
money  advanced  by  the  United  States.  No  partial  or  tem- 
porary occupation  will  be  enough, — we  tried  that  sixty 
odd  years  ago,  but  all  of  it  and  permanently.  But  that 
would  mean  a  war  of  aggression  and  Mr.  Wilson  has  said 
that  he  is  opposed  to  wars  of  aggression  and  when  he  said 
it  he  undoubtedly  meant  it.  Even  so,  but  Mr.  Wilson's 
mind  is  easily  changed  and  if  he  remains  obdurate  his 
successor  will  be  chosen  in  1916  and  a  candidate  stand- 
ing on  a  platform  of  complete  and  permanent  occupation 
of  .Mexico  would  sweep  the  country. 

Occupation  is  the  only  solution  and  it  is  most  desired 
by  the  Mexicans  themselves.  The  Mexican  working  man, 
mechanic,  miner,  or  peon  would  get  a  white  man's  wages. 
The  land  question  would  solve  itself,  the  great  holdings 
being  subdivided  and  sold  to  foreign  immigrants.  A  great 
influx  of  foreigners  from  Europe  and  the  United  States 
would  change  the  complexion  of  the  people  and  they 
would  control  the  country's  politics.  About  three  million 
blondes  would  turn  the  trick. 

As  to  the  principles  of  international  law  involved,  they 
are  neither  numerous  nor  complicated.  Wherever  terri- 
tory is  occupied  by  a  weaker  nation  who  misgoverns  that 
territory  or  for  any  reason  its  further  occupancy  runs 
counter  to  the  interests  of  a  stronger  nation  who  covets 
its  possession,  the  territory  must  be  surrendered.  This  is 
the  history  of  universal  spoilation  during  the  past  century 
and  the  victims  have  been  Turks,  Chinese,  Koreans. 
Apaches,  Africans,  Seminoles,  Poles,  Arabs,  Egyptians. 
Boers,  Moors,  Maoris,  Modocs  and  Mexicans. 


AT    THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  27 


CHAPTER  II. 

"Regular  troops  alone  are  equal  to  the  exigencies  of 
modern  war,  as  well  for  defense,  as  offense,  and  where 
a  substitute  is  attempted,  it  must  prove  illusory  and 
ruinous. 

"No  militia  will  ever  acquire  the  habits  necessary  to 
resist  a  regular  force.  The  firmness  requisite  for  the  real 
business  of  fighting  is  only  to  be  obtained  by  a  constant 
course  of  discipline  and  service. 

"It  is  most  earnestly  to  be  desired,  that  the  liberties  of 
America  may  no  longer  be  trusted,  in  a  material  degree, 
to  so  precarious  a  defense." — Washington. 

"Our  mobile  army  is  so  ridiculously  small  in  the 
world's  war  game,  that  it  amounts  to  nothing  better  than 
a  discard!" — Adna  R.  Chaffee,  Lieutenant  Gen.  U.  S. 
Army,  Retired. 

"The  frontiers  of  states  are  either  rivers  or  mountains 
or  deserts.  Of  all  these  obstacles  to  the  march  of  an 
army,  the  most  difficult  to  overcome  is  the  desert.  Moun- 
tains come  next  and  broad  rivers  occupy  the  third  place." 
— Napoleon. 

HINDSIGHT  BETTER  THAN  FORESIGHT. 

The  evolution  of  warfare  is  kaleidoscopic,  so  also  are 
armaments  and  conditions. 

Preparedness  in  a  conflict  with  Mexico,  for  instance, 
would  materially  differ  from  factors  governing  prepara- 
tions for  war  with  a  first  class  military  power. 


28  AT    THE    EDGE    OF    THE    PIT 

*"Whenever  a  nation's  attitude  towards  war  is  eva- 
sive, its  conduct  indecisive  and  its  preparation  an  indiffer- 
ent, orderless  assembling  of  forces,  it  prepares  for  de- 
feat. 

"There  is  always  certainty  in  determining  a  Nation's 
probable  adversaries,  within  such  periods  of  time,  as  to 
permit  preparedness,  the  adoption  of  armaments  to  spe- 
cific purposes  and  denned  theatre  of  war." 

If  the  trained  mind  searches  into  the  technicalities  of 
the  strategical  and  military  situation  of  the  United 
States,  logical  conclusions  of  an  unbiased  nature  would 
undermine  the  existing  vanity  of  its  alleged  strength  and 
efficiency.  To  assume  that  the  United  States  at  this  time 
could  repulse  a  first  class  power  invading  the  Pacific 
coast  is  fallacious  and  it  would  be  well  to  prepare  against 
such  a  contingency. 

To  imagine  the  country,  in  a  state  of  unpreparedness, 
could  defend  itself  against  a  prepared  power  is  illusory. 
The  money  power,  no  matter  how  great,  would  be 
of  no  effect,  for  the  reason,  that  under  present  conditions 
it  would  take  two  years  to  obtain  adequate  war  material 
and  one  year,  at  least,  to  train  and  discipline  men.  The 
raw  material  for  the  making  of  an  army  is  here,  but  raw 
material  is  in  most  instances,  less  valuable  than  the  fin- 
ished product,  so  the  two  years  in  question  would  be  the 
ne  plus  ultra  of  the  effort  to  defend  an  extended  and 
vigorous  attack  with  modern  equipment.  The  ease  with 
which  this  mosaic  of  empires  has  grown  opulent  is  the 
cause  of  its  ascent  to  heights  of  mistaken  military  he- 
roics, the  absurdity  of  which  is  only  realized  in  the  War 
Department,  and  also  thoroughly  recognized  by  the  mili- 
tary attaches  and  heads  of  foreign  embassies  at  Wash- 

*Homer  Lea. 


AT    THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  29 

ington.  The  United  States  has  never  seen  a  real  war  on 
land  with  modern  equipment. 

Because  the  United  States  was  victor  in  79  and  1812 
and  the  "North  and  the  South"  participated  in  a  man  to 
manslaughter  from  1861  to  '65,  and  again  in  1898  were 
victors  over  an  already  half  conquered  and  more  or  less 
decadent  army  of  starving  and  shoeless  Spanish  boy  sol- 
diers, four  thousand  miles  from  their  base  of  supplies,  it 
does  not  follow  that  foreign  conditions  of  transport,  arm- 
aments, military  science  and  alliances  have  not  completely 
altered  in  two  decades.  They  certainly  have  since  York- 
town  and  Gettysburg. 

It  is  a  case  of  stumbling  along  on  the  doubtful  military 
glories  of  the  past,  of  the  days  of  "Indians"  and  the  days 
of  the  smooth  bore,  without  realizing  (outside  mili- 
tary circles)  that  today  battles  are  won  by  the  ton  weight 
of  metal  placed  on  a  given  spot  in  the  shortest  space  of 
time. 

The  history  of  the  world  shows  the  decline  of  one  na- 
tion after  another,  when  the  nation  became  opulent  and 
arrogant.  The  United  States  has  become  both.  It  does 
not  realize  the  latter  and  gloats  over  the  former.  So  that 
invariable  law  of  predestined  descent  will  move  toward  it 
as  surely  as  there  are,  armed  to  the  teeth,  nations  to  the 
East,  West  and  South. 

In  1898  war  was  declared  by  the  United  States  against 
Spain  as  the  outcome  of  the  insurgent  condition  of  Cuba. 
At  this  time  General  Weyler,  the  Spanish  Captain- 
General  of  the  Island,  had,  by  severe  military  methods, 
about  accomplished  its  pacification.  His  methods  were 
about  the  same  as  those  adopted  by  the  English  in  Af- 
ghanistan, Egypt,  and  South  Africa,  or  those  methods 
adopted  by  the  French  and  Germans  in  North  and  South- 
west Africa  respectively. 


30  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

The  hysterical  press  of  the  country,  after  the  accident 
to  the  United  States  battleship  "Maine,"  forced  President 
McKinley's  hand,  opposed  as  he  was  personally  to  war, 
and  the  Congress,  in  response  to  the  attitude  of  the  Press 
which  quickly  moulded  public  opinion,  declared  war  in 
April,  1898. 

The  press  allegations  were  that  in  the  preceeding  Feb- 
ruary the  Spanish  blew  up  the  "Maine"  whilst  at  anchor 
in  the  harbor  of  Havana.  It  may  be  said  that  these  pre- 
mature statements  misled  public  opinion  and  were  in  a 
large  measure  (little  was  said  of  the  commercialists  at 
the  doors  of  the  Senate  Chamber)  the  cause  of  the  dec- 
laration of  war  which  followed  a  few  weeks  after,  even 
more  so  than  the  then  existing  condition  of  relations  with 
Spain  or  any  misplaced  hysterical  sympathy  with  the  Cu- 
ban insurrectionists.  America  never  participated  in  a 
more  unjust  or  unnecessary  war. 

The  very  cause  of  the  inflamed  condition  of  public 
opinion  was  the  loss  of  the  ship.  Today  the  active  cause  of 
the  Maine's  loss  is  a  matter  of  conjecture  and  conjectural 
it  must  remain  in  the  minds  of  the  most  bigoted.  The 
most  forceful  arguments  only  went  to  show  that  the  alle- 
gations were  based  upon  hearsay  and  no  proof  was  ever 
forthcoming  against  the  Spanish. 

In  1905  many  people  became  participants  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  battleship  Maine,  then  at  the  bottom  of 
Havana  harbor.  The  purchasers  arranged  with  Mr.  E. 
Corthell,  the  late  state  engineer  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  to  submit  plans  to  raise  it.  Mr.  Corthell  submitted 
plans  and  preparations  to  that  end  commenced. 

The  purchase  of  the  ship  came  about  in  this  way: 

The  Cuban  government  demanded  of  the  United  States 
government  that  it  remove  the  ship  from  Havana  harbor, 
as  it  was  and  had  been  for  eight  years,  an  obstruction 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  31 

and  menace  to  navigation.  The  demand  passed  from  the 
treasury  department  to  the  state  department.  Mr.  John 
Hay,  then  Secretary  of  State,  replied  to  the  Cuban  gov- 
ernment in  words  to  the  effect  that  the  United  States 
government  relinquished  all  claims  in  respect  to  the  ship 
to  the  Cuban  government,  as  it  was  in  their  waters  and 
harbor  and  if  they  wished  it  removed,  there  was  no  ob- 
jection on  the  part  of  the  United  States  government,  to 
the  Cuban  government  taking  possession  of  and  remov- 
ing it.  Whereupon  the  Cuban  Government  promptly  sold 
the  wreck,  under  this  relinquishment,  to  Messrs. 
DeWyckoff,  Petzold  &  Company  for  cash,  coupled  with 
a  contract  that  the  purchasers  should  raise  it  in  accord- 
ance with  the  reply  from  the  Department  of  State,  and 
over  the  signature  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States. 

When  the  sale  became  public,  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  speculative  comment  as  to  the  cause  of  the  ship's  foun- 
dering being  revealed ;  this  together  with  a  wail  of  senti- 
mental public  disapproval,  resulted  in  Mr.  Hay's  letter 
of  relinquishment  being  deemed  invalid  by  Mr.  Roose- 
velt, who  stated  that  Congress  would  have  to  pass  on 
Mr.  Hay's  decision.  As  a  consequence  of  this  decision, 
the  purchasers  lost  the  ship  and  never  recovered  their 
purchase  price  from  the  Cuban  government.  The  "Maine" 
was  subsequently  floated  by  the  United  States  govern- 
ment at  public  expense,  towed  into  deep  water  outside 
Havana  and  sunk  in  the  Florida  strait. 

Immediately  following  the  wreck  of  the  "Maine"  the 
disordered  condition  of  the  public  mind  was  expressed 
in  slogans  relative  to  it,  such  as  "Lest  we  forget,"  "Re- 
member the  Maine,"  etc.  Not  one  thought  was  given  to 
the  possible  cause,  of  the  disaster. 

The  early  reports  of  the  divers  submitted  to  the  inves- 


32  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

tigating  committee  stated  that  they  (the  divers)  found 
and  walked  upon  specified  plates  of  the  ship  partially 
buried  in  the  mud,  in  the  vicinity  of  and  outside  of  the 
wreck.  A  careful  reading  of  these  reports  indicate  that 
these  plates  were  blown  out  or  from  the  ship. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  "Maine"  was  notori- 
ous for  its  bad  ventilation,  and  that  it  was  coaled  with  a 
quality  of  soft  or  bituminous  coal  known  to  contain  a 
very  high  percentage  of  volatile  carbon.  The  wing  bunk- 
ers were  in  the  vicinity  of  the  storage  of  ten  inch  shells. 
Assume  that  a  man  entered  these  bunkers  with  a  naked 
light,  which  is  now  against  regulations,  or  lighted  a  match, 
the  possibility  of  an  explosion  of  coal  gas  remains, 
which  might  account  for  the  first  explosion,  and  the  sec- 
ond, in  the  shell  room,  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  commu- 
nication from  the  first.  Under  these  conditions  the  plates 
would  be  blown  out. 

The  public  never  gave  Spain  the  benefit  of  this  possi- 
bility, nor  for  the  rescue  of  the  American  sailors  by  the 
crew  of  the  Spanish  man-of-war  then  at  anchor  a  few 
fathoms  away.  The  press  drove  the  people,  the  Congress 
and  the  Senate,  war  mad. 

The  Spanish  people  and  officers  of  the  Spanish  army 
and  navy,  were  hurt  and  staggered  at  the  accusation,  and 
the  Cubans  gloated  over  the  disaster  and  the  result  it  ef- 
fected. 

Years  after  the  war,  high  Spanish  officials  begged  the 
men  of  Spain  to  abstain  from  shaving  for  one  day,  and 
to  contribute  the  amount  saved  by  that  abstention  to  a 
fund  to  be  devoted  to  an  endeavor  to  prove  their  inno- 
cence of  complicity  in  the  ship's  destruction.  But  the 
United  States  government  made  its  utilization  impossi- 
ble by  pandering  to  the  sentimentality  of  the  electorate, 
by  first  refusing  to  permit  outside  interests  to  raise  the 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  33 

vessel,  and  secondly  by  sinking  it  in  three  thousand  feet 
of  water  immediately  after  floating  it  at  great  cost  to  the 
government.  The  noble  and  "large  thing,"  to  have  done, 
as  Mr.  Wilson  puts  it,  would  have  been  to  invite  an  in-, 
ternational  commission  of  naval  officers,  including  Span- 
ish, to  examine  the  ship  on  flotation,  and  to  have  deter- 
mined forever  the  cause  of  the  disaster,  at  that  interna- 
tional Supreme  Court  of  unbiased  naval  efficiency  in 
session.  At  least  such  a  procedure  would  have  been  emi- 
nently satisfactory  to  the  world  and  especially  so  to  the 
honor  of  Spain. 


34  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Spanish- American  war,  just  or  unjust,  confirmed 
Washington's  letter  to  Congress  of  September  24,  1776, 
in  which  he  expressed  his  estimation  of  militia  and  vol- 
unteers : 

"To  place  any  dependence  upon  militia  is  assuredly 
resting  upon  a  broken  staff.  Men  just  dragged  from  the 
tender  scenes  of  domestic  life,  unaccustomed  to  the  din 
of  arms,  totally  unacquainted  with  every  kind  of  military 
skill  (which  is  followed  by  want  of  confidence  in  them- 
selves when  opposed  by  troops  regularly  trained,  disci- 
plined, and  appointed,  superior  in  knowledge  and  supe- 
rior in  arms),  are  timid  and  ready  to  fly  from  their  own 
shadows. 

"Besides  the  sudden  change  in  their  manner  of  living, 
particularly  in  their  lodging,  brings  on  sickness  in  many, 
impatience  in  all,  and  such  an  unconquerable  desire  of 
returning  to  their  respective  homes,  that  it  not  only  pro- 
duces shameful  and  scandalous  desertions  among  them- 
selves, but  infuses  a  like  spirit  in  others.  Again,  men  ac- 
customed to  unbounded  freedom  and  no  control,  cannot 
brook  the  restraint  which  is  indispensibly  necessary  to 
the  good  order  and  government  of  an  army,  without 
which  licentiousness  and  every  kind  of  disorder  tri- 
umphantly reign.  To  bring  men  to  a  proper  degree  of 
subordination  is  not  the  work  of  a  day  or  a  month,  or 
even  a  year.  .  .  .  Certain  I  am  that  it  would  be 
cheaper  to  keep  fifty  thousand  or  one  hundred  thousand 
in  constant  pay  than  to  depend  upon  half  the  number 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  35 

and  supply  the  other  half  occasionally  by  militia.  The 
time  the  latter  are  in  pay  before  and  after  they  are  in 
camp,  assembling  and  marching,  the  waste  of  ammuni- 
tion, the  consumption  of  stores,  which,  in  spite  of  every 
resolution  or  requisition  of  Congress,  they  must  be  fur- 
nished with  or  sent  home,  added  to  other  incidental  ex- 
penses consequent  upon  their  coming  and  conduct  in 
camp,  surpass  all  idea  and  destroy  every  kind  of  regular- 
ity and  economy  which  you  could  establish  among  fixed 
and  settled  troops,  and  will'  in  my  opinion,  prove,  if  the 
scheme  is  adhered  to,  the  ruin  of  our  cause." 

The  strength  of  the  United  States  army  during  the 
war  of  1898  was  about  170,000.  The  number  admitted 
to  hospital  during  the  five  months,  April  to  September, 
1898,  was  over  158,000,  or  90  per  cent,  of  the  force.  In 
April,  May  and  June  of  that  year,  these  men  had  passed 
severe  medical  examinations  for  fitness.  Of  this  army 
only  38,000  participated  in  the  war,  and  the  actual  cas- 
ualties in  the  field,  including  the  Philippines,  Puerto 
Rico  and  Cuba,  amounted  to  293  and  1032  from  disease. 
In  United  States  camps  (Chicamaugua  and  Key  West) 
the  deaths  from  disease  were  2649. 

The  Japanese  surgeon-general  (reserve)  to  the  Im- 
perial Japanese  Navy,  Baron  Takaki,  reports  relative  to 
the  Russo-Japanese  war:  "Four  deaths  from  bullets  to 
one  from  disease." 

In  the  Spanish  war  (1898)  the  United  States  lost  four 
from  bullets  to  56  from  disease. 

Japan  had  1,500,000  men  in  the  field  during  their  last 
war.  From  this  host,  their  loss  was  only  4073  deaths 
from  typhoid  and  1804  from  dysentery. 

The  discipline  of  the  American  Volunteers  at  the  time 
of  the  Spanish  war  was  in  keeping  with  the  splendid 
spirit  of  individual  American  freedom  and  independence 


36  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

and  quite  consistent  with  the  teaching  of  the  constitution. 

One  national  guard  state  regiment,  when  called  upon 
for  active  service  by  the  Federal  government,  declined 
to  serve.  They  would  not  and  did  not  serve  and  that 
settled  it.  The  assigned  cause  was  that  the  men  declined 
to  serve  under  efficient  United  States  (Federal)  Army 
officers.  They  preferred  their  own  untrained  civilian  of- 
ficers. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  some  men  of  this  regiment 
volunteered  to  other  state  regiments  that  went  to  the 
front  and  who.  were  not  so  particular. 

Similar  incidents  have  happened  at  the  time  of  great 
strikes,  when  State  regiments,  after  having  been  called 
out  by  the  State  government,  have  thrown  down  their 
arms  and  returned  peacefully  to  their  homes,  when  their 
officers  commanded  them  to  fire  on  riotous,  incendiary 
and  murderous  mobs  composed  mostly  of  aliens. 

Yet  these  men  have  been  permitted  by  the  individual 
State  to  retain  their  arms  and  their  uniforms.  So  even 
after  a  hundred  years,  Washington's  judgment  is  proved 
sound. 

The  landing  of  troops  in  1898  at  Siboney,  on  the  south 
coast  of  Cuba,  was  attended  by  confusion.  Ammunition, 
commissary  supplies  and  equipment  remained  on  the 
beach  without  organized  military  system,  only  some  six- 
teen miles  from  Santiago  where  the  main  force  of  the 
Spanish  army  was  centered.  During  that  period  of  or- 
ganization, the  Spanish  could  have  descended  from  the 
foot  hills  of  the  south  mountain  range  they  occupied  im- 
mediately above  and  commanding  the  United  States 
army's  position,  and  driven  the  entire  United  States  forces 
into  the  Carribean.  The  fleet  lying  off  Siboney  could  not 
protect  them,  as  their  fire  would  have  been  as  dangerous 
to  United  States  troops  as  to  the  enemy  during  an  attack. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  37 

This  condition  existed  for  many  days  and  was  keenly 
realized  by  many  officers  of  the  invading  army. 

One  very  prominent  volunteer  cavalry  officer  said  in 
the  hearing  of  a  sentry  at  the  time,  referring  to  a  general 
who  was  abnormally  stout :  "If  we  had  a  little  more 
brains  and  a  little  less  'guts'  we  should  not  be  in  this 
position."  Someone  said  he  would  rather  be  right  than  be 
President.  Probably  the  cavalry  officer  was  not  of  the 
same  opinion. 

However,  the  Spanish  did  not  take  advantage  of  the 
position.  The  naval  engagement  followed,  resulting  in 
the  entire  destruction  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  This  subse- 
quently resulted  in  a  formal  investigation  of  the  United 
States  Admiral  (Schley)  commanding  the  action. 

The  charge  developed  in  this  way :  The  United  States 
fleet  had  for  weeks,  under  Admiral  Samson,  blockaded 
and  unsuccessfully  bombarded  the  Morro  and  Cabanas 
forts  at  Havana  and  the  Spanish  ship  Reina  Christina 
had  escaped  from  that  harbor  with  some  forty  million 
dollars. 

Following  this  the  United  States  fleet  concentrated  off 
Santiago  harbor,  therein  "bottling  up"  Admiral  Cervera's 
fleet. 

The  "American"  operations  were  in  command  of  Ad- 
miral Samson  with  Admiral  Schley  second  in  command. 
The  Admiral  in  command  (Samson)  on  the  "New  York" 
left  the  fleet  and  proceeded  to  a  point  some  twelve  miles 
to  the  east  off  Siboney.  During  his  absence  the  Spanish 
fleet  emerged  from  the  harbor  and  a  running  fight  en- 
sued in  a  westerly  direction  under  Admiral  Schley.  Ad- 
miral Samson  was  necessarily  left  behind.  Had  Admiral 
Cervera's  fleet  steered  east  instead  of  west  the  flagship 
"New  York"  could  have  been  the  focus  of  Cervera's  con- 
centrated fire.  As  the  Spanish  fleet  came  out  of  the  har- 


38  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

bor,  Schley,  to  avoid  being  rammed  and  in  order  to  make 
his  fire  more  effective,  executed  his  famous  "loop"  which 
manoeuver  probably  saved  his  ship.  This  evolution  was 
enlarged  upon  in  a  derogatory  way  at  the  Court  of  In- 
quiry and  his  tactics  questioned  despite  his  decisive  vic- 
tory. 

His  endeavor  to  immediately  communicate  the  victory 
to  his  government,  in  the  absence  of  Admiral  Samson, 
was  also  a  cause  of  great  factional  official  dissatisfaction. 
To  a  great  extent,  politics,  press  criticism  and  prize 
money  entered  into  the  distasteful  incident.  The  indig- 
nity to  which  he  was  subjected  was  unjust. 

"Put  not  your  trust  in  Princes"  is  a  saying  trite  with 
truth,  but  the  ingratitude  of  a  republic  was  never  on  any 
occasion  demonstrated  in  a  higher  degree. 

The  public  exploitation  of  the  incident  was  not  con- 
ducive to  good  feeling,  nor  did  it  accomplish  anything. 

If  the  Maine  had  anything  to  do  with  United  States 
intervention  in  Cuba,  it  may  also  be  accepted  that  the 
Navy  precipitated  reprisals  in  Mexico,  another  Latin- 
American  country.  It  occupied  Vera  Cruz,  admittedly 
not  to  protect  foreign  lives  and  interests,  but  to  sustain 
its  dignity,  also  to  prevent  the  landing  of  French  and 
German  war  material  about  to  arrive  there  on  the  Ham- 
burg-American steamer  "Ypiranga." 

This  German  ship  carried  guns  and  ammunition  con- 
signed to  the  Mexican  Government  and  this  government 
had  been  recognized  by  European  and  other  Courts.  The 
United  States  Navy  prohibited  the  landing  of  this  cargo, 
although  at  this  time  the  Administration  at  Washington 
was  loud  in  its  protestations  that  no  condition  of  war  ex- 
isted against  the  Mexican  people.  Simultaneously  with 
this  action,  arms  and  war  material  were  passing  to  the  in- 
surrectionists from  the  United  States,  across  the  Texas 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  39 

frontier,  by  the  edict  of  the  United  States  Government. 
Gearly  these  conditions  demonstrated  an  act  of  partisan- 
ship and  not  one  of  neutrality.  The  position  taken  by  the 
United  States  Department  of  State  appeared  inexplicable 
in  this  respect  as  the  insurrectionists  and  not  Huerta's 
men  were  responsible  for  the  murder  of  many  United 
States  citizens  and  foreigners. 

The  landing  of  marines  and  the  ensuing  skirmish  was 
an  act  of  war.  The  referred  to  partisanship  could  easily 
have  been  regarded  as  an  act  of  war  by  the  de  facto 
Mexican  Government.  The  departure  of  the  representa- 
tives of  governments  from  the  capitals  of  countries  whose 
relations  are  strained  is  looked  upon  as  preliminary  to  a 
declaration  of  war,  and  these  departures  took  place.  The 
Americans  killed  during  the  landing  and  occupation  of 
Vera  Cruz  constituted  a  cause  for  war,  but  the  Demo- 
cratic administration  of  the  United  States  hesitated  to 
press  matters.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  feared  the  declara- 
tion would  come  from  Mexico.  Unpreparedness  was  the 
cause  of  the  peace-at-any-price  policy,  and  startling  as 
that  may  appear,  it  is  a  better  reason  than  the  other  one 
that  has  been  attributed  to  the  administration's  attitude. 

There  is  not  a  great  nation  existing,  worth  the  name  of 
a  nation,  that  has  become  one  except  through  war. 

If  the  United  States  would  maintain  its  prestige  with 
those  nations  it  must  protect  its  citizens  abroad,  not  only 
with  verbal  force  but  with  armed  force  when  necessary. 
The  same  applies  to  its  Pacific  and  Atlantic  expansion. 
To  expect  that  money  alone  and  always  can  achieve  suc- 
cess in  colonial  expansion  and  maintain  protection  for  its 
citizens  and  dignity  for  itself,  is  a  fallacy. 

The  efforts  of  the  United  States  to  placate  General 
Huerta  by  resorting  to  the  good  offices  of  Argentine, 
Brazil  and  Chili,  in  an  endeavor  to  effect  an  amicable 


40  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

settlement  for  his  refusal  to  fire  the  salute  demanded, 
creates  the  impression  that  the  United  States  pandered 
to  General  Huerta  by  choosing  mediators  of  similar  blood 
and  tongue.  If  this  is  correct,  the  foreign  policy  of  the 
United  States  and  its  reading  of  Latin-American  char- 
acter was  defective.  The  "backdown"  and  hesitation  dis- 
played by  the  United  States  after  its  occupancy  of  Vera 
Cruz  was  not  a  colossal  triumph,  either  in  diplomacy  or 
intervention,  and  anger  brooded  over  both  lands.  It  did 
not,  and  such  vacillation  will  not  in  the  future,  engender 
wholesome  respect  for  American  citizens  from  Latin 
America.  The  position  taken  by  the  United  States  was 
only  in  effect  palliative,  and  varnished  over  a  bad  condi- 
tion of  affairs :  and  then  war  was  inconvenient. 

An  element  of  great  weakness  in  a  military  sense  is 
seen  in  the  sociological  condition  of  the  United  States 
which  is  unique  in  the  history  of  peoples.  There  is  no 
homeogeneity  of  nationality  and  owing  to  this  condition, 
selfish  interests  demand  priority  over  permanent  military 
efficiency. 

Since  President  Polk  the  national  racial  complexion  has 
altered  by  the  introduction  of  many  millions  of  Europeans 
of  varied  nationalities.  This  has  entirely  submerged  the 
American  individuality.* 

The  immigrant  of  1850  readily  assimilated.  In  1914 
the  various  nationalisms  are  conserved,  perpetuated,  and 

*The  total  immigrants  from  1824  to  1912  numbered  29,611,000 
In  1911-12  Italy  sent  340,000;  Austria,  337,000;  Russian,  220,121. 
All  Europe  in  those  two  years  contributed  1,483,632;  Asia,  40,000; 
Latin  America,  200,000.  The  language  of  the  country  is  dialectic 
and  is  no  longer  English  in  its  pronunciation.  It  is  known  as 
the  United  States  language  and  words  of  German,  Yiddish  and 
European  languages  are  introduced  into  its  use  proportionately 
with  the  nationality  and  numbers  in  certain  centers  of  alien  pop- 
ulation. Many  thousands  speak  only  their  national  tongue.  On 
the  other  hand  many  families  conserve  their  national  language 
after  three  generations. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT  41 

imperfect  amalgamation  exists.  There  are  the  Irish- 
Americans,  German-Americans,  Scandinavian-Americans, 
Pennsylvania-Dutch-Americans,  Chinese-Americans,  and 
there  are  11,200,000  civilized  American  negroes  to-day. 
There  are  few  homogeneous  Americans,  except  the  de- 
scendents  of  the  early  Dutch  and  English  Pilgrims  and 
Puritans  and  the  cavalier  Virgina  Colonists,  whose  Amer- 
ican identity  has  not  become  merged  in  the  sociological 
re-constitution.* 

A  vast  proletariat  (with  a  vote)  is  the  result  of  the 
immigratory  influx,  polyglot  in  tongue  and  heterogeneous 
in  nationality,  always  with  a  large  proportion  retaining 
the  sentiments,  customs  and  religion  of  their  original 
nationality.  This  condition  has  not  developed  a  high 
standard  of  life. 

**The  military  (and  naval)  rank  and  file  contain  a 
large  number  of  this  element,  and  it  is  "food  for  thought" 
how  many  of  these  would  be  available  in  war  against 
their  own  nation,  in  the  event  of  hostilities  between  that 
nation  and  the  United  States,  or  how  many  United  States 
citizens  of  European  or  Asiatic  extraction,  composing  the 
proletariat,  would  in  the  event  of  war  return,  despite 
their  citizenship,  to  their  native  countries  and  regiments 
where  they  were  conscripted. 


*The  "German  vote"  and  the  "Irish  vote"  is  a  great  factor  in 
determining  the  result  of  presidential  elections,  to  say  little  of 
the  negro  vote. 

**During  the  recent  Balkan  war,  thousands  of  Albanians,  Bul- 
garians, Greeks,  Montenegrins  and  Turks  left  the  United  States 
and  returned  to  their  regimental  colors. 


42  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  more  recent  administrations,  elected  under  existing 
political  and  social  conditions,  have  become  isolated  in 
their  international  relationships.  Transitory  ignorance 
has  possessed  the  politician-diplomat  and  when  this  has 
not  been  the  case  the  "mob  mind"  of  the  electorate  has 
domineered  the  party  administration  whose  patronage 
dictated  the  appointment. 

Under  these  conditions  of  defective  diplomacy  the 
probabilities  of  war  are  increased. 

EXTRAORDINARY  CONDITIONS. 

1.  The  quadrennial  family  (election)  quarrel  and  its 
sequence,  viz :  the  struggle  for  office,  to  which  all  ques- 
tions of  a  foreign  and  domestic  nature  are  subordinated. 
The  stagnation  of  commerce  and  industry  pending  the 
outcome,  for  one  year  in  advance  of,  and  one  year  after, 
the  "quarrel"  is  temporarily  suspended. 

ii.  A  navy,  without  a  foreign-going  mercantile  marine 
to  convoy,  except  through  a  Canadian  canal  and  that  lim- 
ited in  capacity  to  the  size  of  torpedo  boats.  A  Navy 
without  United  States  ships  to  coal  it,  and  without  Pa- 
cific Coast  coaling  stations.  A  navy,  whose  officers  com- 
plain of  a  shortage  of  war  material.  This  may  be  correct 
considering  the  large  amount  of  condemned  ammunition 
returned  from  the  Philippines. 

in.  An  army  of  a  million  men  (all  sources)  of  which 
914,000  are  untrained  and  undisciplined,  or  pro  rata  with 
the  index  estimate. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  43 

iv.  Inadequate  war  material  to  supply  the  now  world- 
widely  distributed  86,000  trained  men  composing  the  Fed- 
eral Army  in  a  six  months  campaign.  For  a  more  extend- 
ed period  of  military  operations  it  would  take  the  country 
two  years  to  manufacture  an  effective  quantity  in  advance 
of  extended  military  operations,  and  money  could  not 
purchase  it  abroad  after  a  declaration  of  war.  At  least 
not  in  time  to  be  effective. 

v.  The  tirades  of  abuse  directed  by  the  press  adher- 
ents of  each  great  political  party,  against  the  now  trian- 
gular opposition.  In  many  cases  this  is  vindictive  in  alle- 
gations and  the  foreign  powers,  constituting  the  "outside 
world,"  recognize  that  political  concretism  exists,  while 
the  Latin-American,  without  exception,  laughs  super- 
ciliously in  his  cuff,  and  determines  that  his  method  of 
bayonet  to  decide  the  ballot  is  preferable  in  presidential 
elections  and  issues. 

The  press  has  the  power  of  moulding  the  vote  of  the 
proletariat  and  consequently  the  verdict  of  the  issue.  In 
addition  thereto,  it  has  the  power  to  comment  and  lead 
opinion  sub  judice  in  cases  both  civil  and  criminal.  Per- 
nicious bias  is  exhibited  in  many  instances  and  this  creates 
prejudice,  resulting  in  civil,  criminal  and  political  injus- 
tice. Thus  the  press  of  the  country  is  directly  the  political 
creative  and  governing  power.  The  press  is  the  govern- 
ment, and  it  is  to  its  great  influence  that  beneficial  or 
harmful  results  may  be  traced.  In  other  words,  that  which 
is  entirely  outside  of  government  control,  creates  and 
controls. 

vi.  A  diplomatic  corps,  chiefly  selected  by  political 
party  preference.  Competent?  Yes! — in  the  lines  of  the 
various  professions  from  which  its  members  are  graduat- 
ed, but  rarely  diplomatists. 


44  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

With  this  system  officially  and  legally  tolerated,  and  a 
public  absorbing  with  avidity  the  extravagant  statements 
made,  it  cannot  be  expected  that  men  of  code  and  of  the 
better  element  will  subject  themselves  to  the  yellow 
rays,  which  become  the  penalty  of  association  with  poli- 
tics. Consequently,  the  admitted  popular  opinion  that 
most  politicians  enter  politics  for  no  other  reason  than 
for  the  betterment  of  their  material  condition  of  life,  may 
be  assumed  to  be  nearly  correct. 

Unfortunately,  in  "America"  patriotism  has  become 
subordinate  in  ratio  to  profit  or  patronage  according  to 
the  skin  thickness  of  the  individual  politician,  who  can 
always  create  noisy  appreciation  from  the  electorate  by 
the  voicing  of  it  in  the  oratorical  waving  of  the  flag.  The 
true  extent  of  his  real  patriotism  is  an  x  quantity  as  it 
also  is  with  a  great  many  of  his  adherents,  whose  pa- 
triotic instincts  extend  more  to  Hibernianism  or  the  Teu- 
tonic beer  than  to  the  flag  representing  the  forty-eight 
sovereignties  of  local  divergent  interests. 

vii.  Misunderstandings  exist  in  Mexico  as  a  result  of 
the  Huerta  bungle.  All  the  Powers  recognized  Huerta's 
Government  except  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  naturally  expected  that  the  United  States  would  in- 
tervene to  protect  foreign  lives  and  property,  since  the 
United  States  might  consider  it  an  unfriendly  act  should 
foreign  powers  individually  or  in  concert  forcibly  attempt 
to  do  so.  The  United  States  Government  did  not  recog- 
nize Huerta's  presidency  nor  did  it  protect  "American" 
lives  or  property  during  the  years  of  anarchistic  terror 
on  the  United  States  frontier  and  south  of  it.  At  least 
one  or  the  other  of  these  alternatives  should  have  been 
early  effected,  especially  so  since  the  non-recognition  of 
General  Huerta  by  the  United  States  assisted  in  maturing 
the  existing  Mexican  conditions.  The  pacific  attitude 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  45 

adopted  was  not  in  accord  with  the  alleged  military  and 
naval  strength  of  the  country  in  the  face  of  atrocities  to 
United  States  men  and  women,  and  caused  serious  loss  of 
prestige  to  the  United  States  throughout  Latin  America. 

vui.  Japan  looks  askance  at  the  attempt  of  the  United 
States  for  Pacific  expansion.  Japan  resents  the  Californ- 
ian  attitude,  and  the  powerlessness  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment to  control  it,  develops  the  question  of  States  rights. 
Japan  resents  Magdalena  Bay  and  the  fortification  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  and  is  preparing  for  the  issue,  which 
must  come  to  determine  the  supremacy  of  the  Pacific,  in 
a  manner  pregnant  with  determination,  skill  of  strategy 
and  forethought  which  is  as  patent  to-day  to  the  students 
of  the  situation  as  it  will  be  surprising,  startling  and  suc- 
cessful in  its  execution. 

ix.  England,  by  virtue  of  the  Hay-Pauncefote  treaty, 
won  for  herself  a  diplomatic  victory  which  may  have  its 
effect  on  internal  affairs  in  the  near  future,  and  on  ex- 
ternal affairs  for  a  long  period.  But  England  in  reality 
may  not  be  quite  so  satisfied  as  the  attitude  of  its  foreign 
office  indicates,  over  the  ostensibly  indifferent  attitude  of 
the  United  Statesmen  Mexican  and  Panama  questions. 
The  same  applies  in  this  particular  to  Germany  and 
Spain. 

x.  Colombia  was  recently  dismembered  by  the  assist- 
ance of  a  previous  United  States  administration. 

*The  assistance  lent  by  the  United  States  to  the  Pan- 
ama revolutionists  and  the  almost  instant  recognition  of 
that  republic  by  the  United  States  when  it  seceded  from 
Colombian  rule,  would  have  been  considered  an  act  of 
war  under  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  had  England,  for  in- 

*See  Mr.  Clark's  admission  of  this  in  his  speech  before  Con- 
gress, March  5,  1914. 


46  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

stance,  employed  such  methods  in  this  connection.  Yet  in 
the  minds  of  most  people  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has  been 
construed  to  effect  the  protection  of  all  Latin  America 
from  aggression  or  acquisition.  The  United  States,  by 
virtue  of  Mr.  Olney's  interpretation  of  it,  constituted 
itself  the  sole  dictator  of  Latin  America,  even  though 
Latin  America  did  not  wish  to  be  so  dictated  to  or  "pro- 
tected," and  at  heart  resents  the  intrusion.  Colombia  was 
a  victim  of  this  doctrine.  It  was  not  a  European  power 
that  established  formidable  fortifications  on  the  Canal 
Zone  of  Panama,  but  the  very  protector  who  assisted  in 
filching  it  and  after  a  lapse  of  eight  years  proposes  to 
hand  to  the  Colombian  Government  $25,000,000  as  an 
indemnity  or  bid  for  friendship,  and  the  Colombian 
Government  will  accept  them  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  the  payment  of  the  sum  complies  with  terms  asked 
for  the  canal  concession. 

On  May  6,  1914,  Mr.  Roosevelt  expressed  his  attitude 
as  follows: 

"Colombia  agreed  to  let  us  build  the  canal  on  payment 
of  $10,000,000.  Later  she  tried  to  blackmail  the  United 
States  when  she  thought  France  would  give  $25,000,000. 
Panama  rose  in  revolt,  insisting  that  the  American  agree- 
ment should  stand. 

"Not  one  dollar  can  be  paid  Colombia  with  propriety 
or  morally,  and  it  would  be  an  act  of  infamy  to  pay  even 
a  dollar  to  a  nation  which  in  crooked  greed  tried  des- 
perate blackmail. 

"To  besmirch  the  good  name  of  America  by  such  pay- 
ment would  be  an  act  unworthy  any  honorable  man  in  the 
great  office  of  President.  To  yield  the  Panama  tolls  rights 
would  be  equally  dishonorable." 

If  this  is  Ex-President  Roosevelt's  opinion,  it  would 
appear  that  he  forgets  that  at  the  time  Colombia  asked 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  47 

$25,000-000  for  the  Panama  Canal  concession,  the  State 
of  Panama  with  its  31,000  square  miles  of  territory 
formed  an  integral  part  of  the  Republic  of  Colombia,  and 
this  being  the  case,  Colombia  had  the  right  to  ask  what- 
ever it  pleased  for  the  right  to  construct  a  canal  through 
its  territory.  Colombia's  demand,  under  these  circum- 
stances, could  scarcely  be  termed  "blackmail." 

The  State  of  Panama  was  assisted  to  secede  from  Co- 
lombia and  received  $10,000,000  from  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Wilson  now  proposes  to  set  this  right  with  Colombia, 
and  his  just  attitude  naturally  makes  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
ready  recognition  of  the  Republic  of  Panama,  plus  $10,- 
000,000,  look  a  trifle  awkward. 

The  $25,000,000  this  administration  proposes  to  pay  to 
the  Republic  of  Colombia  is  not  a  very  great  sum  for  the 
loss  of  one  of  its  nine  states,  more  especially  as  Columbia 
never  received  a  dollar  from  the  United  States  for  the 
canal  concession  although  Colombia's  rights  were  recog- 
nized by  France  and  received  a  substantial  sum  from 
M.  de  Lesseps. 


48  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  parallel  conditions  of  unrest  in  Panama  in  1903 
and  in  Mexico  in  1913-14  are  obvious.  Mr.  Roosevelt 
claims  the  1903  situation  justified  intervention  because  of 
President  San  Clamente's  death  in  prison  and  Maroquin's 
usurpation  of  the  Presidency  coupled  by  fifty-three  in- 
stances of  riot  and  revolution,  coupled  with  the  threat- 
ened interruption  of  traffic  across  the  isthmus  over  the 
Inter-Oceanic  Railway.  If  intervention  and  subsequent  oc- 
cupation was  justified  from  these  causes  how  much  greater 
are  the  causes  for  firm  intervention  in  Mexico  where 
United  States  citizens  have  been  murdered  and  United 
States  women  raped.  The  commercial  side  of  the  ques- 
tion as  between  Panama  and  Mexico  bears  little  relation 
in  magnitude  as  the  Mexican  situation  involves  hundreds 
of  millions  of  dollars  in  losses  to  United  States  citizens 
and  so  many  hundreds  of  millions  additional  to  foreign 
investors.  Therefore,  if  President  Roosevelt's  action  was 
just  in  the  case  of  Panama  how  much  more  so  would 
President  Wilson's  firm  intervention  be  in  the  case  of 
Mexico  where  conditions  are  worse  than  any  condition 
that  ever  existed  in  Colombia  or  even  Bulgaria. 

The  American  public  knows  very  little  of  the  intensely 
bitter  feeling  that  existed  in  Colombia  at  the  time  the  Hay- 
Herran  Treaty  passed  the  House  and  Senate  at  Washing- 
ton. When  this  news  arrived  in  Colombia  acts  of  violence 
were  committed  against  Americans  throughout  the  Co- 
lombian Republic.  Among  the  prominent  persons  attack- 
ed were  Capt.  T.  T.  Lovelace,  the  American  commander 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  49 

of  the  Colombian  Navy,  and  Alban  G.  Snyder,  Consul 
General  of  the  United  States.  At  this  time  the  coat-of- 
arms  of  the  United  States  at  the  consulate  at  Cartagena 
was  desecrated  in  the  most  revolting  manner,  and  Capt. 
Lovelace  cabled  the  facts  to  the  State  Department  at 
Washington.  Admiral  Sigsbee  on  the  Olympia  was  sent 
to  Cartagena  to  demand  a  public  apology  from  the  gov- 
ernor, who  promptly  made  it. 

Following  this  incident,  Capt.  Lovelace,  then  acting 
United  States  consul  at  Barranquilla,  was  sent  to  Bogota 
as  special  messenger  with  the  Hay-Herran  Treaty. 
Threats  had  been  made  on  the  coast  and  in  the  interior 
against  any  person  who  attempted  to  deliver  the  treaty 
to  Mr.  Beaupre,  the  American  Minister  at  Bogota.  Capt. 
Lovelace  delivered  the  treaty  and  one  week  later  Mr, 
Alban  G.  Snyder,  the  newly  appointed  consul  general  to 
Colombia,  was  due  to  arrive.  The  foreign  ministers,  real- 
izing the  strained  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  Colombia,  in  order  to  prevent  any  demonstration  on 
Mr.  Snyder's  arrival,  met  at  the  Hotel  Metropolitan. 
Capt.  Lovelace  was  requested  to  meet  Mr.  Snyder  at  the 
station  and  escort  him  to  the  hotel.  Capt.  Lovelace  ap- 
proached Mr.  Snyder  on  alighting  from  the  train  and  re- 
quested him  to  take  a  street  car  instead  of  a  carriage,  in 
order  to  foil  any  attempt  upon  his  life ;  but  unfortunately, 
Mr.  Snyder's  military  bearing  and  American  appearance 
subjected  him  to  scrutiny,  and  while  in  the  car  a  vicious 
attack  was  made  on  him.  An  Antiochian  colonel  raised  a 
heavy  cane  and  struck  at  Mr.  Snyder's  head  when  Love- 
lace knocked  the  colonel  off  the  car.  A  riot  then  ensued 
and  the  fight  continued  to  the  hotel,  the  mob  breaking 
through  the  heavy  doors.  The  foreign  ministers  tried  in 
vain  to  stop  the  riot  and  it  was  not  until  soldiers  arrived 
that  order  was  restored. 


50  AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT 

After  this  the  Hay-Herran  treaty  was  considered  an  1 
rejected  by  the  Colombian  Senate  and  the  $10,000,000 
offered  by  the  United  States  to  Colombia  for  the  Canal 
concession  was  simultaneously  refused.  Panama  seceded 
and  received  the  money  plus  $250,000  a  year. 

The  bitter  feeling  then  existing  in  Colombia  toward 
Americans  is  shown  by  the  following  incidents  :  The  gov- 
ernor of  Magdalena,  General  Juan  B.  Tova,  asked  the 
protection  of  the  United  States  Consulate.  The  Colom- 
bian mob,  at  Barranquilla,  sought  to  kill  him  for  his  fail- 
ure to  subdue  the  Panama  revolutionists.  With  tears  he 
told  Capt.  Lovelace,  then  United  States  vice-consul  there, 
that  "Panama  had  passed."  Despite  danger  to  his  life  the 
old  general  declined  to  enter  the  consulate  until  the  United 
States  flag  on  the  office  wall  was  placed  in  the  safe  out 
of  his  sight.  The  vice-consul  in  consideration  of  the 
Colombian's  feelings  placed  it  there  and  the  report  of 
the  incident  is  of  record  in  the  State  Department  at 
Washington. 

It  is  not  generally  known  how  the  Panamanian  gunboat 
"Oriente,"  having  a  speed  of  23.4  knots  an  hour,  was 
purchased  from  the  Nixons  about  the  time  of  Panama's 
secession,  or  of  the  events,  preceding  its  purchase.  The 
interesting  telegram  in  this  connection  received  at  the 
Imperial  Hotel,  New  York,  in  part  said :  "  .  .  .  procure 
'one'  big  and  fast  enough  to  lick  the  gunboat  (Colombian) 
'Cartagena'  .  .  .  ,"  would  make  history. 

The  same  man,  Capt.  T.  T.  Lovelace,  who  delivered 
the  Hay-Herran  treaty  to  United  States  Minister  Beaupre 
at  Bogota  and  who  was  United  States  vice  consul  at 
Baranquilla,  was  appointed  the  first  captain  of  the  "Ori- 
ente." At  the  termination  of  his  command  his  sealed 
orders,  "not  to  be  opened  unless  you  lose  your  ship," 
were  collected  from  him  at  Colon  by  an  American  civilian 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  51 

who  said  he  was  from  Washington,  and  who  produced 
the  duplicate  of  the  series  and  number  inscribed  on  the 
"sealed  orders."  Of  course  they  would  not  have  been 
surrendered  if  sufficient  proof  of  authority  had  not  been 
forthcoming. 

Some  time  before  this  a  torpedo  boat  destroyer,  with 
four  funnels,  sans  flag,  sans  number,  sans  nationality, 
was  lying  not  far  from  Colon.  Someone  has  said  the 
sealed  orders  referred  to  the  idle  destroyer.  "Anyway,"  as 
politicians  have  it,  it  is  believed  that  the  destroyer  was 
subsequently  broken  up  at  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard.  Dur- 
ing Panama's  rebellion  against  Colombia,  the  United 
States  gunboat  "Helena"  was  conveniently  near  Aspin- 
wall.  During  all  this  intrigue  and  since  the  United  States 
apparently  overlooked  a  most  important  matter  in  an- 
other part  of  Colombia. 

Until  the  State  of  Panama  was  severed  from  the  Co- 
lombian union,  Colombia  possessed  two  Pacific  coast 
ports,  Panama  and  Buenaventura.  The  latter  as  a  Pacific 
exit  for  the  commerce  of  the  interior  is  more  important 
and  Colombia  still  retains  it.  As  a  coaling  station  it  is 
most  important  and  is  only  some  three  hundred  miles 
southeast  of  Panama. 

Lord  Murray  left  London  about  the  middle  of  1913  for 
Bogota.  Lord  Cowdray,  his  associate,  was  interested  in 
Colombian  oil  and  other  projects  in  that  Republic.  Wide 
concessions  were  granted  to  Lords  Murray  and  Cowdray 
by  the  Colombian  government,  and  rumors  were  current 
that  these  were  not  to  the  liking  of  the  Washington  ad- 
ministration. Reports  had  it  that  these  concessions  were 
subsequently  nullified,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
United  States,  and  Lord  Murray  returned  to  London. 
Simultaneously  with  his  withdrawal  from  Colombia,  Mr. 
C.  N.  Breitung,  a  New  York  financier,  left  for  Colombia 


52  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

following  in  Lord  Murray's  footsteps.  As  Mr.  Breitung 
and  Lord  Cowdray  have  business  relations,  many  persons 
have  said  that  he  "picked  up  the  trail"  where  Lord  Mur- 
ray temporarily  abandoned  it,  thus  forming  a  pivot  of 
interests  masking  the  British  position. 

Was  oil  the  only  motive  of  Lord  Murray's  journey 
from  London  to  Bogota,  or  was  the  prime  motive  to 
arrange  and  procure  the  contracts  for  the  acquisition  of 
the  Ferro-Carril-del-Cauca  and  the  Port  of  Buenaven- 
tura? 

The  Cauca  railroad  has  its  terminal  at  Buenaventura 
and  is  built  across  the  western  Cordillera  to  the  Cauca 
Valley,  that  Eden  in  the  Andes.  The  extension  of  this 
line  north  from  Call  through  Buga  to  connect  with  Sir 
Rivers  Wilson's  Colombian  Atlantic  railroad  system  will 
complete  the  all-British  transcontinental  Colombian  route, 
and  will  be  of  tremendous  commercial  and  strategic  im- 
portance; which  taken  together  with  Lord  Cowdray's 
Inter-Oceanic  Tehauntepec  railroad  effectually  flanks  the 
Panama  Canal  in  Tehauntepec  to  the  Northwest  and  the 
Colombian  Trans-continental  to  the  southeast. 

As  a  coaling  station  for  Great  Britain,  Buenaventura 
is  most  convenient  and  renders  British  vessels  entirely  in- 
dependent of  the  Panama  coal  storage  at  the  islands  of 
Nace  and  Flamingo  in  Panama  Bay.  Especially  is  it  a 
convenient  port  since  the  vast  coal  deposits  on  the  line 
of  railroad  in  the  vicinity  of  Carli  are  less  than  eighty 
miles  from  Buenaventura  and  are  the  only  known  coal  de- 
posits between  the  Canadian  frontier  and  Valparaiso  on 
the  Pacific  Coast. 

Is  it  possible  that  President  Wilson  had  all  this  in  mind 
when  he  said  in  his  speech  to  Congress  asking  for  the 
repeal  of  the  Panama  Canal  Act  of  1912:  "I  shall  not 
know  how  to  deal  with  other  matters  of  even  greater 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  53 

delicacy  and  nearer  consequence  if  you  do  not  grant  it  to 
me  in  an  ungrudging  measure." 

If  the  United  States  prohibits  Japan's  private  corpora- 
tions from  colonizing  Magdalena  Bay  in  Mexico,  perhaps 
for  similar  reasons  it  will  employ  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
to  prohibit  Great  Britain's  private  corporations  from  ob- 
taining the  most  valuable  harbor  and  coaling  station  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  only  one  day's  steam  from  Panama. 

If  Lord  Cowdray  "lets  go"  the  Colombian  concessions 
granted  to  Lord  Murray,  it  would  be  interesting  to  know 
as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  how  much  of  the  $25,000,000 
that  the  United  States  is  about  to  pay  to  Colombia,  will 
be  turned  over  to  Lord  Cowdray  for  his  surrender. 

An  annual  report  of  Rear  Admiral  Bradford,  chief  of 
the  Equipment  Bureau  of  the  United  States  Navy,  says 
that  he  spent  in  one  year  $2,273,111  for  coal.  Thousands 
of  tons  of  Welsh  and  Australian  coal  are  annually  import- 
ed to  San  Francisco  for  the  United  States  Navy.  The 
figures  available  show  105,066  tons  of  foreign  coal  in  the 
year  of  his  report  and  9000  tons  of  domestic  coal  from 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  at  a  cost  of  $9.25  per  ton  in  each 
instance.  Apart  from  this  the  Pacific  Coast  ports  use 
nearly  250,000  tons  of  foreign  coal  per  annum  which  sells 
for  $15  U.  S.  C.  per  ton  alongside.  Coal  can  be  placed 
alongside  at  Buenaventura  for  less  than  $2.50  per  ton, 
and  the  British  control  it  and  the  port. 

In  a  speech  just  before  the  last  Balkan  war,  the  present 
British  King  said  to  his  people:  "Wake  up  England." 
Those  words  embodied  the  most  cogent  command  he  has 
ever  uttered  as  a  constitutional  monarch.  Those  three 
words  will  be  handed  down  in  the  history  of  his  country. 
He  felt  their  necessitious  import.  He  expressed  all  he 
felt  in  them.  If  some  great  man  could  say,  "United 
States,  wake  up,"  or  "Stop  drifting,"  and  have  those 


54  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

words  received  by  the  people  in  the  same  spirit  as  were 
those  of  the  British  King,  the  United  States  might  be  in 
time  to  prepare  for  that  which  is  inevitably  descending 
upon  it  with  "glacier  like  certainty  of  advance." 

The  plane  of  State,  military,  and  social  conditions,  in 
the  United  States,  is  the  antithesis  of  a  national  meta- 
crisis.  The  population  has  become  metamorphic,  and  be- 
ing so,  lacks  concentration  of  political  purpose,  which  is 
due  to  immigration  and  a  great  alien  population.  An  arti- 
ficiality in  the  pose  of  patriotism  is  present,  noisy  in  its 
demonstration  and  not  entirely  sincere  in  all  its  protesta- 
tions, lacking  that  sense  of  pride  in  ancestral  lore  which 
is  inherent  in  nations  of  unmixed  strain. 

The  nation  is  becoming  chrysophilitic  in  character  anct 
its  military  efficiency  and  strength  is  a  long  way  in  the 
rear  of  world  powers.  This  is  not  realized  and  conse- 
quently not  admitted  by  the  people,  or  cared  about  by  their 
representatives  in  Congress.  All  rely  on  the  mobilization 
of  that  force  so  strongly  condemned  by  General  Washing- 
ton in  his  day,  and  classed  as  a  "discard"  by  General 
Chaffee  in  this  day. 

This  condition  is  due  to  the  altered  sociological  situa- 
tion in  its  relation  to  the  necessities  of  obtaining  and 
maintaining  an  effective  army. 

If  one  world  power  to-day  allied  itself  to  the  cause  of 
General  Huerta,  or  raised  the  question  of  Pacific  expan- 
sion by  the  United  States,  and  America  was  left  with- 
out outside  allies  to  fight  it  out,  the  position  would  result 
in  one  of  humiliation,  due  to  unpreparedness  in  war. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  55 


CHAPTER  VI. 
MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  EXPANSION. 

In  1862  Mr.  Seward  declared :  "The  United  States  have 
neither  the  right  nor  the  disposition  to  intervene  by  force 
on  either  side  in  the  lamentable  war  which  is  going  on  be- 
tween France  and  Mexico." 

In  1823  Monroe  sent  his  message  to  Congress  in  which 
he  said: 

"We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor  and  to  the  amicable 
relations  existing  between  the  United  States  and  those 
Powers,  to  declare  that  we  should  consider  any  attempt 
on  their  part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this 
hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety.  With 
the  existing  colonies  or  dependencies  of  any  European 
Power  we  have  not  interfered  and  shall  not  interfere. 
But  with  the  governments  who  have  declared  their  inde- 
pendence and  maintain  it,  and  whose  independence  we 
have,  on  great  consideration  and  on  just  principles,  ac- 
knowledged, we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the 
purpose  of  oppressing  them  or  controlling  in  any  other 
manner  their  destiny  by  any  European  Power  in  any 
other  light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition  toward  the  United  States." 

During  90  years  the  interpretation  of  those  sentences 
has  become  elastic  to  the  detriment  of  all  foreign  powers 
and  beneficial  to  the  United  States.  "To  extend  their  sys- 
tem" may  be  construed  as  relative  to  the  Holy  Alliance 
formed  by  the  Continental  Courts  after  the  overthrow  of 
Napoleon  for  the  repression  of  revolutionary  movements 
in  their  kingdoms. 


56  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

Canning  asserted  the  principle  of  non-interference  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  foreign  states  in  1822,  a  principle 
he  enforced  in  1826  by  sending  troops  to  Portugal  to 
defend  it  against  Spain,  while  recognizing  the  revolted 
colonies  of  South  America  and  Mexico. 

Through  Canning  Great  Britain  broke  from  that  "Holy 
pact,"  and  was  probably  a  party  and  privy  to  Monroe's 
message.  The  doctrine  has  grown  disproportionate  to  its 
original  intent.  It  has  been  used  selfishly,  stretched  and 
distorted  in  order  to  serve  convenient  purposes  at  differ- 
ent moments.  The  elasticity  of  its  limitations  was  de- 
termined and  clearly  demonstrated  in  the  Venezuela 
boundary  question. 

The  Secretary  of  State  (Mr.  Olney)  undertook  to  in- 
terpret the  Monroe  Doctrine.  His  construction  was : 

"The  United  States  is  practially  sovereign  on  this  con- 
tinent and  its  fiat  law." 

Lord  Salisbury,  the  Prime  Minister,  replied  to  this  in- 
terpretation with  a  touch  of  amusing  sarcasm: 

"The  Monroe  Doctrine  must  always  be  mentioned  with 
respect  on  account  of  the  distinguished  statesman  to 
whom  it  is  due." 

The  possibility  of  George  Canning  being  in  his  mind 
at  the  time  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  United  States. 

The  distortion  of  its  literal  purport  has  covered  the 
despotic  acquisition,  by  the  United  States,  of  California, 
a  naval  station  in  Cuba,  Puerto  Rico  and  Panama,  and  it 
has  encroached  on  the  rights  of  Mexico  in  deciding  how 
Mexico,  not  Europe,  shall  not  colonize  its  own  Lower 
California. 

In  his  message,  Monroe  declared  against  "Oppression." 
The  dictatorial  attitude  of  the  United  States,  in  the  latter 
instance,  was  an  act  of  oppression  and  contrary  to  that 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  57 

doctrine  advocated  by  Monroe.  So  also  was  the  instigated 
seizure  of  Panama. 

Mr.  Clev eland's  foreign  policy  in  relation  to  Venezuela 
was  as  undiplomatic  as  it  was  unnecessary.  His  message 
to  Great  Britain  was  couched  in  language  which  might 
have  readily  culminated  in  unpleasant  relations,  had  that 
country  not  received  it  temperately,  diplomatically  and  in 
a  spirit  of  conciliatory  toleration.  The  message  was  like 
an  unexpected  blow  in  the  face  from  a  friend,  to  the 
British  Government  and  public. 

The  touchy  moods  of  the  "American"  State  Departments 
were  again  exemplified  in  the  case  of  the  demand  by  the 
United  States  Government  for  the  recall  of  Lord  Sack- 
ville  West  during  the  same  administration.  He  had  been 
duped  into  a  written  expression  of  opinion  as  to  the  rela- 
tive merits  of  the  Presidential  candidates,  and  suggested 
how  the  writer  should  vote.  The  opinion  was  written 
privately  to  a  former  British  subject  who  at  the  time  was 
a  United  States  citizen.  There  was  a  possibility  that  the 
correspondence  was  preconceived  by  persons  who  desired 
the  result  it  subsequently  achieved. 

Moods  and  personal  whims  are  not  within  the  province 
of  officials  of  state,  especially  of  those  of  a  republican 
government. 

EXPANSION. 

The  United  States  has  taken  upon  itself  to  preserve 
Latin  America  for  itself  from  Europe  and  Asia,  and  Latin 
America  is  silent.  It  is  suspicious  and  with  good  reason, 
for  in  17  years,  Panama,  Guantanamo  and  Puerto  Rico, 
in  the  Atlantic,  have  been  annexed,  and  but  for  the  Platt 
Amendment  the  United  States  might  have  been  in  pos- 
session of  all  of  Cuba. 


58  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

Expansion  in  the  Pacific — Hawaiian  Islands : 

Area  Population 

(sq.  miles) 

Hawaii  4,210  55,382 

Maui 728  28,623 

Kahoolawe 69  27 

Lanai  139  131 

Molokai  161  1,791 

Oahu   600  81,993 

Kauai  547  23,744 

Niihau  .  97  208 


6,651          191,909 

Guam,  the  largest  of  the  Ladrone  Islands,  area  207 
square  miles,  population  12,000,  naval  base  Samoa,  con- 
sists of  the  island  of  Tutuila  and  Anua,  Ofu,  Olosenga, 
Tau,  and  Rose  Islands,  with  a  total  area  of  about  95 
square  miles  and  a  population  estimated  at  6,000  in  1910. 
The  flag  of  the  United  States  was  hoisted  on  Wake  Is- 
land in  1899  and  other  islands  in  the  Pacific  have  been 
annexed  from  time  to  time,  including  Johnston,  Callego, 
Starbuck,  Penrhyn,  Palmyra,  Washington,  Fanning,  and 
Christmas,  Howland  and  Baker,  Gardner,  Medway,  Mar- 
cus, and  Morell,  and  the  Philippine  Islands — 

Island :  Area  Population 

(sq.  miles)  1913 

Bohol  1,441  243,148 

Cebri   1 ,762  592,247 

Leyte  2,722  357,641 

Luzon 40,969  3,798,507 

Mesbate  1,236           

Mindanao    36,292  499,634 

Mindoro 3,851            

Negros 4,881  460,776 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF  THE  PIT             59 

Palawan  4,027           

Panay 4,611  743,646 

Samar 5,031  222,690 

Other  Islands  (3,130) 14,572           


Total   121,395       7,635,426 

So  it  would  appear  that  the  United  States  feels  itself 
at  liberty  to  expand  anywhere  while  prohibiting  like  ex- 
pansion to  foreign  powers,  European  or  Asiatic. 

The  current  interpretation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  by 
the  United  States  is  not  quite  clear  and  may  be  open  to 
grave  question  by  the  powers  at  some  future  date.  They 
are  beginning  to  look  upon  the  exercise  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  by  the  United  States  as  one  of  singular  oppor- 
tunism. 


60  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  of  April  \9th,  1850,  provided  that  no 
fortifications  shall  be  established  in  Central  America. 
This  is  contained  in  the  following  provision  which  is  one 
of  the  articles  of  the  treaty : 

"The  Governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  hereby  declare  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
will  ever  obtain  or  maintain  for  itself  any  exclusive  con- 
trol over  the  said  ship  canal;  agreeing  that  neither  will 
ever  erect  or  maintain  any  fortifications  commanding  the 
same  or  in  the  vicinity  thereof,  or  occupy,  or  fortify,  or 
colonize,  or  assume,  or  exercise  any  dominion  over  Nica- 
ragua, Costa  Rica,  the  Mosquito  Coast,  or  any  part  of 
Central  America." 

This  treaty  was  abrogated  in  1900  and  a  draft  of  the 
first  Hay-Pauncefote  treaty  substituted.  Article  VII.  con- 
tained : 

"No  fortifications  shall  be  erected  commanding  the 
canal  or  the  waters  adjacent.  The  United  States,  how- 
ever, shall  be  at  liberty  to  maintain  such  military  police 
along  the  canal  as  may  be  necessary  to  protect  it  against 
lawlessness  and  disorder." 

This  treaty  was  not  ratified  by  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, but  the  second  or  following  treaty  was  executed. 

As  will  be  seen  in  the  treaty  the  question  of  fortifica- 
tions remains  especially  ambiguous  and  open  to  argu- 
ment. It  only  allows  the  United  States  to  protect  the 
canal  against  lawlessness. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  61 

HAY-PAUNCEFOTE  TREATY 
BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN, 
TO  FACILITATE  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  A  SHIP  CANAL. 
Signed  at  Washington,  November  18,  1901.   Ratified  by 
Great  Britain,  January  20,  1902.    Ratification  advised 
by  the  Senate,  December  16,  1901.    Ratifications  ex- 
changed at  Washington,  February  21,  1902.    Ratified 
by  the  President,  December  26,  1901. 

Proclaimed,  February  22,  1902, 
"By  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

"A   PROCLAMATION. 

"Whereas,  a  Convention  between  the  United  States  of 
America  and  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  to  facilitate  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  to 
connect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  by  whatever 
route  may  be  considered  expedient,  and  to  that  end  to 
remove  any  objection  which  may  arise  out  of  the  Conven- 
tion of  the  19th  April,  1850,  commonly  called  the  Clayton- 
Bulwer  treaty,  to  the  construction  of  such  canal  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  without 
impairing  the  'general  principle'  of  neutralisation  estab- 
lished in  Article  VIII.  of  that  Convention,  was  concluded 
and  signed  by  their  respective  plenipotentiaries  at  the  city 
of  Washington  on  the  18th  day  of  November,  1901,  the 
original  of  that  Convention  is  word  for  word  as  follows : 

"TREATY. 

"THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  and  His  MAJESTY 
EDWARD  THE  SEVENTH,  of  the  UNITED  KINGDOM  OF 
GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND,  and  of  the  British  Domin- 
ions beyond  the  Seas,  KING,  AND  EMPEROR  OF  INDIA, 
being  desirous  to  facilitate  the  construction  of  a  ship 
canal  to  connect  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  by 
whatever  route  may  be  considered  expedient,  and  to  that 


62  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

end  to  remove  any  objection  which  may  arise  out  of  the 
Convention  of  the  19th  April,  1850,  commonly  called  the 
Clayton-Bulwer  Treaty,  to  the  construction  of  such  canal 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  without  impairing  the  'general  principle'  of  neu- 
tralization established  in  Article  VIII.  of  that  Conven- 
tion, have  for  that  purpose  appointed  as  their  Plenipoten- 
tiaries : 

"THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  John  Hay, 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America; 

"AND  His  MAJESTY  EDWARD  THE  SEVENTH,,  of  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  of  the 
British  Dominions  beyond  the  Seas,  King  and  Emperor 
of  India,  the  Right  Honourable  Lord  Pauncefote,  C.C.B., 
C.C.M.C,  His  Majesty's  Ambassador  Extraordinary  and 
Plenipotentiary  to  the  United  States; 

"Who,  having  communicated  to  each  other  their  full 
powers  which  were  found  to  be  in  due  and  proper  form, 
have  agreed  upon  the  following  Articles : 

"ARTICLE  I.  The  High  Contracting  Parties  agree  that 
the  present  Treaty  shall  supersede  the  afore-mentioned 
Convention  of  the  19th  April,  1850. 

"ARTICLE  II.  It  is  agreed  that  the  canal  may  be  con- 
structed under  the  auspices  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  either  directly  at  its  own  cost,  or  by  gift  or 
loan  of  money  to  individuals  or  Corporations,  or  through 
subscription  to  or  purchase  of  stock  or  shares,  and  that 
subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  present  Treaty,  the  said 
Government  shall  have  and  enjoy  all  the  rights  incident 
to  such  construction,  as  well  as  the  exclusive  right  of 
providing  for  the  regulation  and  management  of  the 
canal. 

"ARTICLE  III.  The  United  States  adopts,  as  the  basis 
of  the  neutralization  of  such  ship  canal,  the  following 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  63 

Rules,  substantially  as  embodied  in  the  Convention  of 
Constantinople,  signed  the  28th  October,  1888,  for  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Suez  Canal,  that  is  to  say : 

1.  The  canal  shall  be  free  and  open  to  the  vessels  of 
commerce  and  of  -war  of  all  nations  observing  these  rules, 
on  terms  of  entire  equality,  so  that  there  shall  be  no  dis- 
crimination against  any  such  nation,  or  its  citizens  or  sub- 
jects, in  respect  of  the  conditions  or  charges  of  trafiic,  or 
otherwise.  Such  conditions  and  charges  of  traffic  shall  be 
just  and  equitable. 

*"2.  The  canal  shall  never  be  blockaded,  nor  shall  any 
right  of  war  be  exercised  nor  any  act  of  hostility  be  com- 
mitted within  it.  The  United  States,  however,  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  maintain  such  military  police  along  the  canal  as 
may  be  necessary  to  protect  it  against  lawlessness  and  dis- 
order. 

"3.  Vessels  of  war  of  a  belligerent  shall  not  revictual 
nor  take  any  stores  in  the  canal  except  so  far  as  may  be 
strictly  necessary,  and  the  transit  of  such  vessels  through 
the  canal  shall  be  effected  with  the  least  possible  delay  in 
accordance  with  the  Regulations  in  force,  and  with  only 
such  intermission  as  may  result  from  the  necessities  of 
the  service. 

"Prizes  shall  be  in  all  respects  subject  to  the  same  Rules 
as  vessels  of  war  of  the  belligerents. 

"4.  No  belligerent  shall  embark  or  disembark  troops, 
munitions  of  war,  or  warlike  material,  on  the  canal,  ex- 
cept in  case  of  accidental  hindrance  of  the  transit,  and  in 
such  case  the  transit  shall  be  resumed  with  all  possible 
dispatch. 


*Since  this  treaty  was  ratified  the  Canal  entrances  have  been 
fortified  and  the  heaviest  artillery  armaments  in  the  world  em- 
placed  by  the  United  States. 


64  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

"5.  The  provisions  of  this  Article  shall  apply  to  waters 
adjacent  to  the  canal,  within  3  marine  miles  of  either  end. 
Vessels  of  war  of  a  belligerent  shall  not  remain  in  such 
waters  longer  than  twenty-four  hours  at  any  one  time, 
except  in  case  of  distress,  and  in  such  case,  shall  depart 
as  soon  as  possible ;  but  a  vessel  of  war  of  one  belligerent 
shall  not  depart  within  twenty-four  hours  from  the  de- 
parture of  a  vessel  of  war  of  the  other  belligerent. 

"6.  The  plant,  establishment,  buildings,  and  all  works 
necessary  to  the  construction,  maintenance  and  operation 
of  the  canal  shall  be  deemed  to  be  part  thereof,  for  the 
purpose  of  this  Treaty,  and  in  time  of  war,  as  in  time  of 
peace,  shall  enjoy  complete  immunity  from  attack  or  in- 
jury by  belligerents,  and  from  acts  calculated  to  impair 
their  usefulness  as  part  of  the  canal. 

ARTICLE  IV.  It  is  agreed  that  no  change  of  territorial 
sovereignty  or  of  the  international  relations  of  the  country 
or  countries  transversed  by  the  before-mentioned  canal 
shall  affect  the  general  principle  of  neutralization  or  the 
obligation  of  the  High  Contracting  Parties  under  the 
present  Treaty. 

"ARTICLE  V.  The  present  Treaty  shall  be  ratified  by 
the  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  thereof,  and  by  His 
BJUTAXNIC  MAJESTY;  and  the  ratifications  shall  be  ex- 
changed  at  Washington  or  at  London  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible time  within  six  months  from  the  date  hereof. 

"In  faith  whereof  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries  have 
signed  this  Treaty  and  thereunto  affixed  their  seals. 

"Done  in  duplicate  at  Washington,  the  18th  day  of  No- 
vember, in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  one  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  one. 

"JOHN  HAY.       (Seal) 
"PAUXCEFOTE.    ( Seal ) 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT  65 

"And  whereas  the  said  Convention  has  been  duly  rati- 
fied on  both  parts,  and  the  ratification  of  the  two  Govern- 
ments were  exchanged  in  the  city  of  Washington  on  the 
twenty-first  day  of  February,  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  two: 

"Now,  therefore,  be  it  known  that  I,  THEODORE  ROOSE- 
VELT, PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 
have  caused  the  said  Convention  to  be  made  public,  to 
the  end  that  the  same  and  every  article  and  clause  thereof 
may  be  observed  and  fulfilled  trith  good  faith  by  the 
United  States  and  the  citizens  thereof. 

"In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed,  i 

'T)one  in  the  city  of  Washington,  this  twenty-second 
day  of  February,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  two,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-sixth. 

(Seal)  "THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

"By  the  President: 

"JOHN  HAY, 

"Secretary  of  State." 

The  United  States  did  not  acquire,  by  the  Isthmian 
Canal  Convention  of  NOVEMBER  18,  1903,  any  title  to 
territory  in  the  Republic  of  Panama,  but  merely  a  per- 
petual right  of  occupation,  use,  and  control  of  and  over 
a  zone  of  land  ten  miles  in  width.  For  this  privilege  it 
paid  to  the  Republic  of  Panama  the  sum  of  $10,000,000, 
and  undertook  to  pay  the  sum  of  $250,000  annually  so 
long  as  such  occupancy  continued,  such  payments  begin- 
ning on  February  26,  1913. 


66  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ACQUISITION  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE  IN 
1904  FROM  PANAMA. 

Article  2  of  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Republic  of  Panama,  ratified  by  the  United  States 
Senate,  February  23.  1904.  Treaty  in  effect  February  26, 
1904,  provided  for  the  cession  in  perpetuity  by  Panama 
of  a  strip  of  territory  adjacent  to  the  canal,  as  follows: 

"The  Republic  of  Panama  grants  to  the  United  States 
in  perpetuity,  the  use,  occupation  and  control  of  the  zone 
of  land  and  land  under  water  for  the  construction,  main- 
tenance, operation,  sanitation  and  protection  of  said  canal 
of  the  width  of  ten  miles,  extending  to  the  distance  of 
five  miles  on  each  side  of  the  center  line  of  the  route  of 
the  canal  to  be  constructed.  The  said  zone  beginning  in 
the  Caribbean  Sea ;  three  marine  miles  from  mean  low 
water  mark  and  extending  to  and  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  a  distance  of  three 
marine  miles  from  mean  low  water  mark,  with  the  pro- 
viso that  the  cities  of  Panama  and  Colon  and  the  harbors 
adjacent  to  said  cities,  which  are  included  within  the 
boundaries  of  said  zone  above  described  SHALL  NOT  be 
included  within  this  grant.  The  Republic  of  Panama 
further  grants  to  the  United  States  in  perpetuity  the  use, 
occupation  and  control  of  any  other  lands  and  waters 
outside  of  the  zone  above  described,  which  may  be  neces- 
sary and  convenient  for  the  construction,  maintenance, 
operation,  sanitation  and  protection  of  the  said  canal  or 
of  any  auxiliary  canals  or  other  work  necessary  and  con- 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT  67 

venient  for  the  construction,  maintenance,  operation,  sani- 
tation and  protection  of  said  enterprise.  The  Republic  of 
Panama  further  grants  to  the  United  States  in  perpetuity 
the  use,  occupation  and  control  of  all  islands  within  the 
limits  of  the  zone  above  described,  and  in  addition  thereto, 
the  group  of  small  islands  in  the  bay  of  Panama  named 
Perico,  Nace,  Culebra  and  Flamingo." 

THE  PANAMA  CANAL  ACT  OF  1912. 
Provision  for  the  Permanent  Government  of  the  Canal 

Zone  and  Exemption  of  Coastwise  Vessels  from  Tolls. 

Deemed  to  be  in  Contravention  with  the  Treaty  of  1901, 

The  Sixty-second  Congress,  Second  Session,  passed 
"An  act  to  provide  for  the  opening,  maintenance,  pro- 
tection and  operation  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  for  the 
sanitation  and  government  of  the  Canal  Zone,"  which  was 
approved  August  24,  1912,  and  is  as  follows : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represent- 
atives of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  as- 
sembled, That  the  zone  of  land  and  land  under  water  of 
the  width  of  ten  miles  extending  to  the  distance  of  five 
miles  on  each  side  of  the  centre  line  of  the  route  of  the 
canal  now  being  constructed  thereon,  which  zone  begins 
in  the  Caribbean  Sea  three  marine  miles  from  mean  low- 
water  mark  and  extends  to  and  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  distance  of  three 
marine  miles  from  mean  low-water  mark,  excluding  there- 
from the  cities  of  Panama  and  Colon  and  their  adjacent 
harbors  located  within  said  zone,  as  excepted  in  the  treaty 
with  the  Republic  of  Panama  dated  November  18,  1903, 
but  including  all  islands  within  said  described  zone,  and 
in  addition  thereto  the  group  of  islands  in  the  Bay  of 
Panama  named  Perico,  Nace,  Culebra  and  Flamingo,  and 
any  lands  and  waters  outside  of  said  limits  above  de- 


68  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

scribed  which  are  necessary  or  convenient  or  from  time 
to  time  may  become  necessary  or  convenient  for  the  con- 
struction, maintenance,  operation,  sanitation,  or  protec- 
tion of  the  said  canal  or  of  any  auxiliary  canals,  lakes; 
or  other  works  necessary  or  convenient  for  the  construc- 
tion, maintenance,  operation,  sanitation,  or  protection  of 
said  canal,  the  use,  occupancy,  or  control  whereof  were 
granted  to  the  United  States  by  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Panama,  the  ratifica- 
tions of  which  were  exchanged  February  26,  1904,  shall 
be  known  and  designated  as  the  Canal  Zone,  and  the 
canal  now  being  constructed  thereon  shall  hereafter  be 
known  and  designated  as  the  Panama  Canal.  The  Presi- 
dent is  authorized,  by  treaty  with  the  Republic  of  Panama, 
to  acquire  any  additional  land  or  land  under  water  not 
already  granted,  or  which  was  excepted  from  the  grant, 
that  he  may  deem  necessary  for  the  operation,  mainten- 
ance, sanitation,  or  protection  of  the  Panama  Canal,  and 
to  exchange  any  land  or  land  under  water  not  deemed 
necessary  for  such  purposes  for  other  land  or  land  under 
water  which  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  such  purposes, 
which  additional  land  or  land  under  water  so  acquired 
shall  become  part  of  the  Canal  Zone. 

"Sec.  2.  That  all  laws,  orders,  regulations,  and  ordin- 
ances adopted  and  promulgated  in  the  Canal  Zone  by 
order  of  the  President  for  the  government  and  sanitation 
of  the  Canal  Zone  and  the  construction  of  the  Panama 
Canal  are  hereby  ratified  as  valid  and  binding  until  Con- 
gress shall  otherwise  provide.  The  existing  courts  estab- 
lished in  the  Canal  Zone  by  Executive  order  are  recog- 
nized and  confirmed  to  continue  in  operation  until  the 
courts  provided  for  in  this  act  shall  be  established. 

"Sec.  3.  That  the  President  is  authorized  to  declare 
by  Executive  order  that  all  land  and  land  under  water 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  69 

within  the  limits  of  the  Canal  Zone  is  necessary  for  the 
construction,  maintenance,  operation,  sanitation,  or  pro- 
tection of  the  Panama  Canal,  and  to  extinguish  by  agree- 
ment when  advisable,  all  claims  and  titles  of  adverse 
claimants  and  occupants.  Upon  failure  to  secure  by  agree- 
ment title  to  any  such  parcel  of  land  or  land  under  water 
the  adverse  claim  or  occupancy  shall  be  disposed  of  and 
title  thereto  secured  in  the  United  States  and  compensa- 
tion therefor  fixed  and  paid  in  the  manner  provided  in  the 
aforesaid  treaty  with  the  Republic  of  Panama,  or  such 
modification  of  such  treaty  as  may  hereafter  be  made. 

A  PERMANENT  GOVERNMENT  FOR  THE  CANAL  ZONE. 

"Sec.  4.  That  when  in  the  judgment  of  the  President 
the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal  shall  be  sufficiently 
advanced  toward  completion  to  render  the  further  ser- 
vices of  Isthmian  Canal  Commission  unnecessary  the 
President  is  authorized  by  Executive  order  to  discontinue 
the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission,  which,  together  with  the 
present  organization,  shall  then  cease  to  exist;  and  the 
President  is  authorized  thereafter  to  complete,  govern, 
and  operate  the  Panama  Canal  and  govern  the  Canal 
Zone  or  cause  them  to  be  completed,  governed  and  oper- 
ated, through  a  Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  such 
other  persons  as  he  may  deem  competent  to  discharge 
the  various  duties  connected  with  the  completion,  care, 
maintenance,  sanitation,  operation,  government,  and  pro- 
tection of  the  canal  and  Canal  Zone.  If  any  of  the  per- 
sons appointed  or  employed  as  aforesaid  shall  be  persons 
in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States,  the 
amount  of  the  official  salary  paid  to  any  such  person  shall 
be  deducted  from  the  amount  of  salary  or  compensation 
provided  by  or  which  shall  be  fixed  under  the  terms  of 
this  act.  The  Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal  shall  be 


70  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  commissioned  for  a  term  of  four 
years,  and  until  his  successor  shall  be  appointed  and 
qualified.  He  shall  receive  a  salary  of  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year.  All  other  persons  necessary  for  the  comple- 
tion, care,  management,  maintenance,  sanitation,  govern- 
ment, operation,  and  protection  of  the  Panama  Canal  and 
Canal  Zone  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President,  or  by  his 
authority,  removable  at  his  pleasure-  and  the  compensa- 
tion of  such  persons  shall  be  fixed  by  the  President,  or 
by  his  authority,  until  such  time  as  Congress  may  by  law 
regulate  the  same,  but  the  salaries  or  compensation  fixed 
hereunder  by  the  President  shall  in  no  instance  exceed 
by  more  than  twenty-five  per  centum  the  salary  or  com- 
pensation paid  for  the  same  or  similar  services  to  per- 
sons employed  by  the  Government  in  Continental  United 
States.  That  upon  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal 
the  President  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  officially  and 
formally  opened  for  use  and  operation. 

"Before  the  completion  of  the  canal,  the  Commission 
of  Arts  may  make  report  to  the  President  of  their  recom- 
mendation regarding  the  artistic  character  of  the  struc- 
ture of  the  canal,  such  report  to  be  transmitted  to  Con- 
gress. 

No  TOLLS  ON  AMERICAN  COASTWISE  VESSELS. 

"Sec.  5.  That  the  President  is  hereby  authorized  to 
prescribe  and  from  time  to  time  to  change  the  tolls  that 
shall  be  levied  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
for  the  use  of  the  Panama  Canal :  Provided,  That  no  tolls, 
when  prescribed  as  above,  shall  be  changed,  unless  six 
months'  notice  thereof  shall  have  been  given  by  the  Presi- 
dent by  proclamation.  No  tolls  shall  be  levied  upon  ves- 
sels engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade  of  the  United  States. 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  71 

That  section  forty-one  hundred  and  thirty-two  of  the  Re- 
vised Statutes  is  hereby  amended  to  read  as  follows : 

"  'Sec.  4132.  Vessels  built  within  the  United  States  and 
belonging  wholly  to  citizens  thereof,  and  vessels  which 
may  be  captured  in  war  by  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  lawfully  condemned  as  prize,  or  which  may  be  ad- 
judged to  be  forfeited  for  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  the 
United  States;  and  seagoing  vessels,  whether  steam  or 
sail,  which  have  been  certified  by  the  Steamboat  Inspec- 
tion Service  as  safe  to  carry  dry  and  perishable  cargo, 
not  more  than  five  years  old  at  the  time  they  apply  for 
registry,  wherever  built,  which  are  to  engage  only  in  trade 
with  foreign  countries  or  with  the  Philippine  Islands  and 
the  islands  of  Guam  and  Tutuila,  being  wholly  owned  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States  or  corporations  organized 
and  chartered  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States  or  of 
any  State  thereof,  the  president  and  managing  directors 
of  which  shall  be  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  cor- 
porations organized  and  chartered  under  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  or  of  any  State  thereof,  the  president  and 
managing  directors  of  which  shall  be  citizens  of  the  Unit- 
ed States,  and  no  others,  may  be  registered  as  directed  in 
this  title.  Foreign-built  vessels  registered  pursuant  to  this 
act  shall  not  engage  in  the  coastwise  trade:  Provided, 
That  a  foreign-built  yacht,  pleasure  boat,  or  vessel  not 
used  or  intended  to  be  used  for  trade  admitted  to  Amer- 
ican registry  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  not  be  exempt 
from  the  collection  of  ad  valorem  duty  provided  in  sec- 
tion thirty-seven  of  the  act  approved  August  5,  1909,  en- 
titled "An  act  to  provide  revenue,  equalize  duties,  and  en- 
courage the  industries  of  the  United  States,  and  for  other 
purposes :"  That  all  materials  of  foreign  production  which 
may  be  necessary  for  the  construction  or  repair  of  vessels 
built  in  the  United  States  and  all  such  materials  neces- 


72  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

sary  for  the  building  or  repair  of  their  machinery  and  all 
articles  necessary  for  their  outfit  and  equipment  may  be 
imported  into  the  United  States  free  of  duty  under  such 
regulations  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  pre- 
scribe :  Provided  further,  That  such  vessels  so  admitted 
under  the  provisions  of  this  section  may  contract  with  the 
Postmaster-General  under  the  act  of  March  3,  1891,  en- 
titled "An  act  to  provide  for  ocean  mail  service  between 
the  United  States  and  foreign  ports,  and  to  promote  com- 
merce," so  long  as  such  vessels  shall  in  all  respects  com- 
ply with  the  provisions  and  requirements  of  said  act.' 

"Tolls  may  be  based  upon  gross  or  net  registered  ton- 
nage, displacement  tonnage,  or  otherwise,  and  may  be 
based  on  one  form  of  tonnage  for  warships  and  another 
for  ships  of  commerce.  The  rate  of  tolls  may  be  lower 
upon  vessels  in  ballast  than  upon  vessels  carrying  pas- 
sengers or  cargo.  When  based  upon  net  registered  ton- 
nage for  ships  of  commerce  the  tolls  shall  not  exceed  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  net  registered  ton,  nor 
be  less,  other  than  for  vessels  of  the  United  States  and 
its  citizens,  than  the  estimated  proportionate  cost  of  the 
actual  maintenance  and  operation  of  the  canal,  subject, 
however,  to  the  provisions  of  article  nineteen  of  the  con- 
vention between  the  United  States  and  the  Republic  of 
Panama,  entered  into  November  18,  1903.  If  the  tolls 
shall  not  be  based  upon  net  registered  tonnage,  they  shall 
not  exceed  the  equivalent  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  net  registered  ton  as  nearly  as  the  same  may  be 
determined,  nor  be  less  than  the  equivalent  of  seventy- 
five  cents  per  net  registered  ton.  The  toll  for  each  pas- 
senger shall  not  be  more  than  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents. 
The  President  is  authorized  to  make  and  from  time  to 
time  amend  regulations  governing  the  operation  of  the 
Panama  Canal,  and  the  passage  and  control  of  vessels 


73 

through  the  same  or  any  part  thereof,  including  the  locks 
and  approaches  thereto,  and  all  rules  and  regulations 
affecting  pilots  and  pilotage  in  the  canal  or  the  approaches 
thereto  through  the  adjacent  waters. 

"Such  regulations  shall  provide  for  prompt  adjustment 
by  agreement  and  immediate  payment  of  claims  for  dam- 
ages which  may  arise  from  injury  to  vessels,  cargo,  or 
passengers  from  the  passing  of  vessels  through  the  locks 
under  the  control  of  those  operating  them  under  such 
rules  and  regulations.  In  case  of  disagreement  suit  may 
be  brought  in  the  district  court  of  the  Canal  Zone  against 
the  Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  hearing  and 
disposition  of  such  cases  shall  be  expedited  and  the  judg- 
ment shall  be  immediately  paid  out  of  any  moneys  appro- 
priated or  allotted  for  canal  operation." 

The  remainder  of  the  section  provides  for  the  method 
of  adjusting  all  claims  arising  out  of  injuries  to  em- 
ployes. 

Section  6  provides  for  radio-communication  at  suitable 
places  along  the  Panama  Canal  and  adjacent  coasts  and 
for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  dry  docks,  re- 
pair shops,  warehouses,  etc.,  for  the  use  of  the  vessels 
using  the  canal. 


74  AT   THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  IX. 
DUTIES  OF  THE  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL. 

"Sec.  7.  That  the  Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal  shall, 
in  connection  with  the  operation  of  such  canal,  have 
official  control  and  jurisdiction  over  the  Canal  Zone  and 
shall  perform  all  duties  in  connection  with  the  civil  gov- 
ernment of  the  Canal  Zone,  which  is  to  be  held,  treated 
and  governed  as  an  adjunct  of  such  Panama  Canal.  Un- 
less in  this  act  otherwise  provided,  all  existing  laws  of 
the  Canal  Zone  referring  to  the  civil  Governor  or  the 
civil  administration  of  the  Canal  Zone  shall  be  applicable 
to  the  Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal,  who  shall  perform 
all  such  executive  and  administrative  duties  required  by 
existing  law.  The  President  is  authorized  to  determine 
or  cause  to  be  determined  what  towns  shall  exist  in  the 
Canal  Zone  and  subdivide  and  from  time  to  time  resub- 
divide  said  Canal  Zone  into  subdivisions,  to  be  designated 
by  name  or  number,  so  that  there  shall  be  situated  one 
town  in  each  subdivision,  and  the  boundaries  of  each  sub- 
division shall  be  clearly  defined.  In  each  town  there  shall 
be  a  magistrate's  court  with  exclusive  original  jurisdic- 
tion coextensive  with  the  subdivision  in  which  it  is  situ- 
ated of  all  civil  cases  in  which  the  principal  sum  claimed 
does  not  exceed  three  hundred  dollars,  and  all  criminal 
cases  wherein  the  punishment  that  may  be  imposed  does 
not  exceed  a  fine  of  one  hundred  dollars,  or  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  thirty  days,  or  both,  and  all  violations  of 
police  regulations  and  ordinances  and  all  actions  involv- 
ing possession  or  title  to  personal  property  or  the  forcible 
entry  and  detainer  or  real  estate.  Such  magistrate  shall 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT  75 

also  hold  preliminary  investigations  in  charges  of  felony 
and  offences  under  section  ten  of  this  act,  and  commit  or 
bail  in  bailable  cases  to  the  district  court.  A  sufficient 
number  of  magistrates  and  constables,  who  must  be  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States,  to  conduct  the  business  of  such 
courts,  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the  Panama 
Canal  for  terms  of  four  years  and  until  their  successors 
are  appointed  and  qualified,  and  the  compensation  of  such 
persons  shall  be  fixed  by  the  President,  or  by  his  author- 
ity, until  such  time  as  Congress  may  by  law  regulate  the 
same.  The  rules  governing  said  courts  and  prescribing 
the  duties  of  said  magistrates  and  constables,  oaths  and 
bonds,  the  times  and  places  of  holding  such  courts,  the 
disposition  of  fines,  costs,  forfeitures,  enforcements  of 
judgments,  providing  for  appeals  therefrom  to  the  district 
court,  and  the  disposition,  treatment  and  pardon  of  con- 
victs shall  be  established  by  order  of  the  President.  The 
Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal  shall  appoint  all  notaries 
public,  prescribe  their  powers  and  duties,  their  official 
seal,  and  the  fees  to  be  charged  and  collected  by  them." 
Sections  8,  9  and  10  provide  for  a  judiciary  for  the 
Canal  Zone,  and  prescribe  its  duties,  and  Section  11  pro- 
vides for  jurisdiction  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission in  matters  of  competition  by  common  carriers 
through  the  canals  involving  disputes  as  to  the  facts.  The 
remaining  sections  of  the  act  are  as  follows: 

EXTRADITION. 

"Sec.  12.  That  all  laws  and  treaties  relating  to  the 
extradition  of  persons  accused  of  crime  in  force  in  the 
United  States,  to  the  extent  that  they  rriay  not  be  in  con- 
flict with  or  superseded  by  any  special  treaty  entered  into 
between  the  United  States  and  in  the  Republic  of  Panama 
with  respect  to  the  Canal  Zone,  and  all  laws  relating  to 


76  AT   THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT 

the  rendition  of  fugitives  from  justice  as  between  the  sev- 
eral States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States,  shall 
extend  to  and  be  considered  in  force  in  the  Canal  Zone, 
and  for  such  purposes  and  such  purposes  only  the  Canal 
Zone  shall  be  considered  and  treated  as  an  organized 
Territory  of  the  United  States. 

THE  CANAL  IN  TIME  OF  WAR. 

"Sec.  13.  That  in  time  of  war  in  which  the  United 
States  shall  be  engaged,  or  when,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
President,  war  is  imminent,  such  officer  of  the  army  as 
the  President  may  designate  shall,  upon  the  order  of  the 
President,  assume  and  have  exclusive  authority  and  juris- 
diction over  the  operation  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  all 
of  its  adjuncts,  appendants,  and  appurtenances,  including 
the  entire  control  and  government  of  the  Canal  Zone,  and 
during  a  continuance  of  such  condition  the  Governor  of 
the  Panama  Canal  shall,  in  all  respects  and  particulars  as 
to  the  operation  of  such  Panama  Canal,  and  all  duties, 
matters,  and  transactions  affecting  the  Canal  Zone,  be 
subject  to  the  order  and  direction  of  such  officer  of  the 
army. 

"Sec.  14.  That  this  act  shall  be  known  as,  and  referred 
to  as,  the  Panama  Canal  act,  and  the  right  to  alter,  amend, 
or  repeal  any  or  all  of  its  provisions  or  to  extend,  modify 
or  annul  any  rule  or  regulation  made  under  its  authority 
is  expressly  reserved. 

FORTIFICATION  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL. 
Chapter  285  of  the  Statutes  of  the  Sixty-first  Congress, 
third  session,  "An  act  making  appropriations  for  sundry 
civil  expenses  of  the  Government  for  the  fiscal  year  end- 
ing June  30,  1912,  and  for  other  purposes,"  approved 
March  4,  1911,  contained  the  following  appropriations  for 
the  fortification  of  the  Isthmian  Canal : 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  77 

"For  construction  of  sea  coast  batteries  on  the  Canal 
Zone,  two  million  dollars; 

"For  the  purchase,  manufacture  and  test  of  sea  coast 
cannon  for  coast  defence,  including  their  carriages,  sights, 
implements,  equipments  and  machinery  necessary  for  the 
manufacture  at  the  arsenals  (to  cost  ultimately  not  to 
exceed  one  million,  nine  hundred  and  six  thousand  dol- 
lars), one  million  dollars,  the  same  to  be  immediately 
available  and  to  continue  available  until  expended." 

Public  Law  No.  302,  "An  act  making  appropriations 
for  Sundry  Civil  Expenses  of  the  Government  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1913,  and  for  other  purposes, 
approved  August  24,  1912,  contained  the  following  ap- 
propriations for  the  fortifications  of  the  Isthmian  Canal : 

"For  the  following  for  fortifications  and  armament 
thereof  for  the  Isthmian  Canal,  to  be  immediately  avail- 
able and  to  continue  available  until  expended,  namely : 

"CAUSEWAY.  For  the  construction  of  a  causeway  or 
bridge  for  use  in  connection  with  fortifications,  $150,000. 

"SEACOAST  BATTERIES.  For  construction  of  seacoast 
batteries  on  the  Canal  Zone,  $1,000,000  and  any  balance 
of  the  appropriation  for  the  construction  of  seacoast  bat- 
teries on  the  Canal  Zone  made  by  the  act  of  March  4, 
1911. 

"SUBMARINE  MINE  STRUCTURES.  For  the  construction 
of  mining  casements,  cable  galleries,  torpedo  storehouses, 
cable  tanks  and  other  structures  necessary  for  the  opera- 
tion, preservation  and  care  of  submarine  mines  and  theii 
accessories  on  the  Canal  Zone,  $220,000. 

"FIELD  FORTIFICATIONS  AND  CAMPS.  For  the  construc- 
tion of  field  fortifications  and  the  preparation  of  camp 
sites  on  the  Canal  Zone,  $200,000. 

"ARMAMENT  OF  FORTIFICATIONS.  For  the  purchase, 
manufacture  and  test  of  seacoast  cannon  for  coast  de- 


78  AT  THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

fence,  including  their  carriages,  sights,  implements,  equip- 
ments and  the  machinery  necessary  for  the  manufacture 
at  the  arsenals  (to  cost  ultimately  pot  to  exceed  $2,324,- 
000),  $500,000. 

"For  the  purchase,  manufacture  and  test  of  ammuni- 
tion for  seacoast  cannon,  including  the  necessary  experi- 
ments in  connection  therewith,  and  the  machinery  neces- 
sary for  its  manufacture  at  the  arsenals,  $575,000. 

"SUBMARINE  MINES.  For  the  purchase  of  submarine 
mines  and  the  necessary  appliances  to  operate  them  for 
closing  the  channels  leading  to  the  Isthmian  Canal,  $111,- 
750. 

"In  all,  specifically  for  fortifications  and  armaments 
thereof  for  the  Isthmian  Canal,  $2,806,950. 

"For  the  fortifications  and  armament  of  the  Panama 
Canal,  to  be  immediately  available  and  to  continue  avail- 
able until  expended,  namely: 

"SURVEYS.  For  detailed  surveys  of  the  areas  of  the 
Canal  Zone  required  for  military  purposes,  including  the 
cost  of  marking  permanently  the  boundaries  of  such 
areas,  $12,000. 

"PURCHASE  OF  LAND.  For  the  purchase  of  land  on  the 
Canal  Zone,  required  for  military  purposes,  $50,000. 

"SEACOAST  BATTERIES.  For  the  construction  of  sea- 
coast  batteries  on  the  Canal  Zone,  $2,365,000. 

"ELECTRIC  LIGHT  AND  POWER  PLANTS.  For  the  pur- 
chase and  installation  of  electric  light  and  power  plants 
for  the  seacoast  fortifications  on  the  Canal  Zone,  $173,- 
000. 

"SEARCHLIGHTS.  For  the  purchase  and  installation  of 
searchlights  for  the  seacoast  fortifications  on  the  Canal 
Zone,  $285,000. 

"SANITARY  CLEARING.     For  sanitary  clearing,  filling 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  79 

and  drainage  in  vicinity  of  camps,  posts  and  defensive 
works  on  the  Canal  Zone,  as  follows : 

"Margarita  Island :  For  filling  swamp  in  rear  defen- 
sive works,  $180,000;  for  clearing  and  improving  perma- 
nent post  site  and  drill  ground  at  Miraflores,  $30,000. 

"ARMAMENT  OF  FORTIFICATIONS.  For  the  purchase: 
manufacture,  and  test  of  seacoast  cannon  for  coast  de- 
fence, including  their  carriages,  sights,  implements,  equip- 
ments and  the  machinery  necessary  for  their  manufacture 
at  the  arsenals  (to  cost  ultimately  not  to  exceed  $2,506,- 
000),  $1,000,000;  Provided,  that  the  Chief  of  Ordinance 
is  authorized  to  transfer  to  and  use  in  the  fortifications 
of  the  Panama  Canal  one  sixteen  inch  gun  and  carriage, 
procured,  or  to  be  procured,  out  of  appropriations  here- 
tofore made  under  armament  of  fortifications  for  Conti- 
nental United  States: 

"For  the  purchase,  manufacture  and  test  of  ammuni- 
tion for  seacoast  cannon,  including  the  necessary  experi- 
ments in  connection  therewith,  and  the  machinery  neces- 
sary for  its  manufacture  at  the  arsenals,  $575,000. 

"FiRE  CONTROL.  For  the  construction  of  fire  control 
stations  and  the  purchase  and  installation  of  accessories 
therefor,  $200,000. 

"In  all  specifically  for  fortifications  and  armaments 
thereof  for  the  Panama  Canal,  $4,870,000. 

"The  Secretary  of  War  is  authorized  and  directed  to 
cause  to  be  prepared  and  submit  to  Congress  on  or  be- 
fore December  15,  1913,  complete  plans  for,  and  drafted 
estimates  of,  barracks  and  quarters  for  the  mobile  army 
and  sea  coast  artillery  on  the  Canal  Zone." 


80  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  X. 

Obsessed  by  the  internal  dollar  politics  of  political  pa- 
tronage in  the  gift  of  members  of  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate and  even  of  the  President  himself;  ambassadorial 
appointments  to  foreign  nations,  down  to  postmasterships 
to  favorites,  irrespective  of  qualification ;  the  same  system 
extending  to  each  Governor  of  each  State,  State  Senators 
and  members  of  the  State  Legislatures,  which  include 
appointments  to  the  judiciary,  the  whole  country  is  at 
loggerheads  every  four  years  in  attempts  to  obtain  lucra- 
tive office,  resulting  in  political  upheaval  and  unrest.  This 
covers  the  entire  political  area  with  intrusions  of  greed 
and  discontent,  culminating  in  scandalous  accusations 
in  the  public  press  against  the  existing  political  power 
for  the  following  four  years,  when  the  tirade  of  party 
abuse  and  the  juggle  of  new  appointments  to  Fed- 
eral and  State  offices  is  re-enacted.  New  office  holders 
equally  as  inefficient  as  their  predecessors  are  then  ap- 
pointed by  political  preference  and  the  internal  struggle 
is  again  renewed,  until  the  better  element  of  the  popula- 
tion eschew  politics  almost  entirely  and  are  at  one  in  the 
thought,  with  Europeans,  that  constitutional  monarchy 
of  a  democratic  form  is  a  more  economical  and  preferable 
form  of  government. 

In  1857  Macauley  predicted  the  condition  now  exist- 
ing. He  said  in  respect  to  the  United  States : 

"On  one  side  is  a  statesman  preaching  patience,  respect 
for  vested  rights,  strict  observance  of  public  faith.  On 
the  other  is  a  demagogue  ranting  about  the  tyranny  of 
capitalists  and  usurers,  and  asking  why  anybody  should 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  81 

be  permitted  to  drink  champagne,  and  to  ride  in  a  car- 
riage, while  thousands  of  honest  folks  are  in  want  of 
necessaries.  .  .  .  When  society  has  entered  on  this 
downward  progress,  either  civilization  or  liberty  must 
perish.  Either  some  Caesar  or  Napoleon  will  seize  the 
reins  of  the  government  with  a  strong  hand  or  your 
republic  will  be  as  fearfully  plundered  and  laid  waste  by 
barbarians  in  the  twentieth  century  as  the  Roman  empire 
was  in  the  fifth ;  with  this  difference  that  the  Huns  and 
Vandals  who  ravaged  the  Roman  Empire  came  from 
without,  and  that  your  Huns  and  Vandals  will  have  been 
engendered  within  your  own  country  by  your  own  insti- 
tutions." 

As  a  consequence  of  this  internal  chaos,  few  poli- 
ticians are  interested  in  foreign  affairs,  at  least  very  few 
specialize  or  are  educated  in  a  school  of  diplomacy,  or 
are  familiar  with  the  complexities  attending  the  negotia- 
tion of  foreign  relations,  or  the  importance  of  them.  Upon 
appointment,  the  new  incumbent  of  departmental  office 
takes  up  the  burden  of  unfinished  treaties  and  negotia- 
tions left  by  his  predecessor;  often  he  is  an  opponent  of 
the  political  party  retired  from  power  and  so  without 
specific  training  or  sound  knowledge  of  the  subject,  he 
and  the  committees  (also  politically  appointed)  wallow 
along  in  a  quagmire  of  international  errors,  trusting  to 
their  natural  acumen  to  adjust  an  issue.* 

In  the  United  States  the  voice  of  the  press  is  not  always 
the  voice  of  the  people,  but  the  acts  of  the  people  are 
generally  dictated  by  the  voice  of  the  press,  and  it  is 
feared  and  pandered  to  by  Federal  and  State  office  hold- 


*As  in  the  case  of  the  Titanic  inquiry  for  instance,  the  chair- 
man's (Mr.  Smith)  knowledge  of  ships  and  navigation  was  so 
limited  as  to  elicit  international  criticism. 


82  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

ers  alike,  because  it  influences  their  destruction  or  crea- 
tion individually  and  collectively. 

How  is  it  to  be  expected,  under  this  system  of  political 
patronage,  to  maintain  an  efficient  Department  of  State? 
One  able  to  cope  with  the  trained  diplomats  of  Europe  or 
Japan?  United  States  ambassadors  and  ministers  are 
appointed  from  the  untrained  masses ;  editors,  attorneys, 
merchants,  politicians  and  relatives  of  politicians ;  men 
whose  families  aspire  to  social  heights  out  of  the  United 
States,  whose  desire  it  is  to  wander  in  the  purlieus  of 
royalty  for  a  brief  period.  Diplomats !  To  the  manner 
born  and  trained  by  early  environments?  No!  At  the 
termination  of  the  short  rule  of  the  political  party  in 
power,  they  are  recalled  and  substituted  and  the  chrysa- 
lid  diplomats  having  once  fluttered,  pass  out  of  both 
official  and  public  life.  Foreign  courts  endure  this  and 
are  in  most  cases  relatively  inappreciative.  These  embryo 
diplomatists,  with  few  exceptions,  comprise  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States  in  Europe,  Asia  and 
South  America,  and  mistakes  follow.  In  other  civilized 
countries  young  men  are  selected  from  great  universities 
for  diplomatic  service,  and  carefully  trained  for  the  posi- 
tion ;  made  proficient  in  modern  languages ;  compelled 
to  graduate  from  a  College  of  Diplomacy  to  a  third  or 
fourth  secretaryship  of  an  inferior  nation,  and  by  effi- 
ciency, inviolate  integrity  and  marked  ability,  after  serv- 
ing years  in  a  like  position  in  many  minor  embassies  and 
legations,  they  ascend  to  first  secretaryships  of  the  embas- 
sies of  more  prominent  countries  before  becoming  min- 
isters of  legations  to  even  third  class  powers.  How  can 
untrained  men  under  the  United  States  system,  compete 
with  such  experience?  They  cannot  and  their  efforts  in 
many  instances  are  smiled  at  indulgently. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  83 


CHAPTER  XI. 

As  a  result  of  appointing  untrained  ambassadors  and 
ministers,  President  Wilson  delivered  himself  of  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  speech  before  Congress  at  Washington 
on  March  5,  1914,  relative  to  the  Panama  Canal  Treaty 
with  England.  Briefly  the  issue  was:  Should  coastwise 
American  ships  have  an  advantage  over  British  ships  in 
canal  tolls  in  the  face  of  a  treaty  existing  between  the 
two  countries  to  the  effect  that  all  vessels  of  all  nations 
should  pass  through  the  Canal  on  terms  of  equality.  The 
Panama  Canal  Act,  passed  by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment in  August,  1912,  provided  for  an  advantage,  viz : 
exemption  from  the  payment  of  tolls  by  American  coast- 
wise vessels  in  contravention  of  the  then  existing  treaty 
made  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  of 
America  by  Sir  Julian  Pauncefote,  the  British  ambassador 
and  John  Hay,  Secretary  of  State  for  the  United  States. 
in  November,  1901. 

President  Wilson  asked  for  the  repeal  of  the  Panama 
Canal  Act  of  1912  and  upheld  the  treaty.  The  bill  for 
the  repeal  is  known  as  the  Sims  Bill.  The  text  of  the 
President's  speech  was  as  follows  : 

"I  have  come  to  you  on  an  errand  which  can  be  briefly 
performed,  but  I  beg  you  will  not  measure  its  importance 
by  the  number  of  sentences  in  which  I  state  it.  No  com- 
munication that  I  have  addressed  to  Congress  has  carried 
•with  it  a  more  grave  or  far  reaching  implication  to  the 
interests  of  the  country,  and  I  come  now  to  speak  upon  a 
matter  with  regard  to  which  I  am  charged,  to  a  peculiar 
degree,  by  the  Constitution  itself,  with  personal  responsi- 
bility. 


84  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

"I  come  to  ask  the  repeal  of  that  provision  of  the 
Panama  Canal  Act  of  August  24,  1912,  which  exempts 
vessels  engaged  in  coastwise  trade  of  America  from  the 
payment  of  tolls,  and  to  urge  upon  you  the  justice  and 
wisdom  and  large  policy  of  such  a  repeal  with  the  utmost 
earnestness  of  which  I  am  capable.  In  my  own  judgment, 
maturely  formed  after  careful  consideration,  I  believe 
that  exemption  constitutes  a  mistaken  economic  policy 
from  every  point  of  view,  and  is,  moreover,  in  plain  con- 
travention of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain  concerning  the 
canal,  concluded  November  18,  1901. 

"But  I  have  not  come  before  you  to  urge  my  personal 
views.  I  come  to  state  to  you  a  fact  and  a  situation. 
Whatever  may  be  our  own  differences  of  opinion  con- 
cerning this  much  debated  measure,  its  meaning  is  not 
debated  outside  of  the  United  States.  Everywhere  else 
the  language  of  the  treaty  is  given  but  one  interpretation. 
and  that  interpretation  precludes  the  exemption  I  am 
asking  you  to  repeal.  We  consented  to  the  treaty;  its 
language  we  accepted,  if  we  did  not  originate  it,  and  we 
are  too  big,  too  powerful  and  too  self-respecting  a  nation 
to  interpret  with  too  strained  or  refined  reading,  the 
words  of  our  promises,  just  because  we  have  power 
enough  to  give  us  leave  to  read  them  as  we  please.  The 
large  thing  to  do  is  the  only  thing  we  can  afford  to  do, 
and  that  is  a  voluntary  withdrawal  from  a  position  every- 
where questioned  and  misunderstood.  We  ought  to  re- 
verse our  action  without  raising  the  question  of  whether 
we  are  right  or  wrong,  and  so  once  more  deserve  our 
reputation  for  sincere  generosity  and  redemption  of  every 
obligation  without  quibble  or  hesitation. 

"I  ask  this  of  you  in  support  of  the  foreign  policy  of 
my  administration.  I  shall  not  know  how  to  deal  with 
other  matters  of  even  greater  delicacy  and  nearer  conse- 


AT   THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  85 

quence,  if  you  do  not  grant  it  to  me  in  an  ungrudging 
measure." 

This  last  sentence  was  generally  considered  significant. 
It  was  taken  as  a  veiled  reference  to  the  President's 
acknowledged  desire  to  accede  to  England's  wishes  rela- 
tive to  canal  tolls  as  a  means  of  insuring  British  support 
for  the  administration's  course  in  other  delicate  involve- 
ments. Among  the  diplomats  was  Secretary  of  State 
Bryan,  the  German  Ambassador  Count  Von  Bernstorff, 
the  French  Ambassador  (Mr.  Jusserand).  The  British 
Ambassador,  Sir  Cecil  Spring-Rice,  was  absent. 

The  Senators  arrived  late.  It  was  12 :30  before  they 
were  announced.  Meanwhile  President  Wilson  had  been 
waiting  in  the  speaker's  room.  As  he  finished,  just  at 
12 :39,  there  was  an  outburst  of  applause.  Speaker  Clark, 
the  third  officer  of  the  United  States  Government,  re- 
ferred the  message  to  the  Commerce  Committee. 

Congressman  Underwood,  the  Democratic  floor  leader, 
declined  to  comment  on  the  address.  He  said  he  thought 
a  party  caucus  concerning  the  President's  request  was 
unlikely,  and  plainly  indicated  that  he  disagreed. 

Congressman  Adamson  of  Georgia,  chosen  as  the 
President's  spokesman  in  the  House  debate  on  the  canal 
tolls,  was  emphatic  in  his  approval  of  the  administration's 
attitude.  "I  was  pleased  with  the  message,"  he  said,  "be- 
cause it  is  the  'square'  thing  at  home  and  abroad.  The 
charge  that  we  are  surrendering  to  England  is  a  lie.  We 
will  now  repeal  that  piece  of  rascality."* 

On  March  the  31st  following,  the  Congress  voted  on 
the  repeal  of  the  Canal  Act  of  1912.  The  third  officer  of 
the  United  States  Government,  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
Mr.  Champ  Clark,  also  a  Democrat  and  of  the  same 


*Enacted  during  Mr.  Taft's  administration. 


86 

political  party  as  the  President,  spoke  as  follows  prior  to 
the  division : 

"Mr.  Speaker,  there  is  no  personal  issue  between  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  myself.  I  have  at  no 
time  uttered  one  word  of  criticism  of  the  President.  At 
no  time,  so  far  as  I  believe,  has  the  President  said  one 
word  of  criticism  of  me.  In  the  nature  of  things,  a  man 
who  is  worthy  to  hold  a  high  public  post  in  the  service 
of  the  country  must  believe  that  other  public  servants 
are  actuated  by  the  same  high,  courageous  and  patriotic 
motives  by  which  he  believes  himself  to  be  moved. 

"I  have  never  entertained  the  opinion  that  President 
Wilson  is  actuated  by  other  than  the  highest  patriotic 
motives.  I  do  not  believe  that  President  Wilson  has  ever 
entertained  any  other  opinion  as  to  the  conduct  of  those 
of  us  who  find  it  necessary  to  differ  from  him  on  this 
question. 

"President  Wilson  does  not  desire  a  breach  in  the  Dem- 
ocratic party.  I  do  not  desire  a  breach  in  the  Democratic 
party,  and  there  is  no  breach  in  the  Democratic  party 

"Some  papers  assert  that  I  am  opposing  this  surrender 
to  Great  Britain  as  an  opening  gun  in  my  campaign  for 
President  in  1916.  It  may  surprise  these  obsequious  cour- 
tiers to  know  that  I  have  never  hinted  to  any  human 
being  that  I  would  be  a  Presidential  candidate  in  1916, 
and  that  I  am  not  a  candidate. 

*"It  will  surprise  these  limber-backed  incense  swingers 
still  more  to  know  what  I  had  uniformly  told  those  who 
have  suggested  my  candidacy  in  1916,  and  it  is  this :  'If 
President  Wilson  makes  a  success  of  his  administration 
he  will  be  renominated  and  elected  in  1916;  but  if  he 


*Mr.  Clark's  slangy  sentences  are  unique,  but  his  parliamentary 
colloquialisms  are  doubtlessly  appreciated  and  understood  in 
some  parts  of  the  United  States. 


87 

makes  a  failure,  which  God  forbid,  the  nomination  will 
not  be  worth  having.' 

"One  more  word  on  this  head:  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  fact  that  I  led  on  twenty-nine  ballots  at  Baltimore, 
receiving  a  clear  majority  on  nine,  and  that  I  got  a  ma- 
jority of  more  than  300,000  over  the  President  in  primary 
elections  where  he  and  I  competed,  precludes  me  from 
discharging  my  duty  of  exercising  my  rights  as  a  Repre- 
sentative in  Congress  and  as  Speaker  of  the  House  to 
stand  up  for  America  against  Great  Britain. 

"The  fact  that  I  am  making  this  fight  for  our  platform 
may  end  my  public  career.  *There  are  many  things  worse 
than  being  defeated  for  Congress  or  for  the  Presidency, 
and  one  of  them  is  to  repudiate  the  platform  on  which 
you  are  elected. 

"I  have  no  word  of  criticism  for  my  Democratic  friends 
who  are  going  to  vote  for  the  repeal.  We  have  worked 
together  too  long;  we  have  mourned  together  in  defeat 
for  sixteen  years,  but  never  were  disheartened ;  we  have 
rejoiced  together  in  our  victories  during  the  last  four 
years,  and  I  hope  we  will  have  cause  to  rejoice  in  many 
more. 

"I  never  spent  as  much  time  thinking  about  what  my 
duty  was  as  upon  this.  I  looked  at  it  from  every  con- 
ceivable angle  to  see  if  there  was  any  justification  for  not 
keeping  our  platform  pledge,  but  to  save  my  life  I  could 
conjure  no  excuse  for  bolting  the  platform. 

"On  the  19th  of  August,  1893,  I  made  my  first  speech 
in  the  House.  On  that  occasion,  as  on  this,  a  platform 
figured  in  the  proceedings.  Among  other  things,  I  said : 

"  'What  is  a  platform  anyway  ?  Is  it  an  honest  declara- 


*Evidently  Mr.  Clark  is  of  the  opinion  that  a  "platform"  is 
infallible,  but  right  or  wrong  it  must  be  supported. 


88  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

tion  of  principles  which  the  framers  honestly  intend  to 
enact  into  laws  if  they  attain  to  power,  or  it  is  a  dishonest 
device  whereby  to  entrap  the  unwary  voter  ?  Is  it  a  candid 
statement  of  the  faith  that  is  in  us,  or  is  it  a  bait  to  catch 
"gudgeons?"  (votes?) 

"  'Is  it  the  plighted  word  of  men  of  honor  to  accom- 
plish certain  things,  or  is  it  only  "good  enough  Morgan" 
till  after  election?' 

"I  have  stood  by  that  declaration  ever  since,  now  almost 
twenty  years.  I  stand  by  it  now. 

"To  whom  does  the  Panama  Canal  belong  anyway?  To 
the  United  States  of  America.  We  built  it  at  the  enor- 
mous cost  of  $400,000,000.  We  built  it  on  American  soil. 
We  have  fortified  it;  we  will  control  it.  In  order  to  get 
a  chance  to  build  it  we  created  a  republic. 

"For  whose  benefit  did  we  build  it?  Primarily  for  our 
own ;  secondarily  for  the  world's  benefit* 

"Why  did  we  build  it  ?  In  order  to  secure  cheap  water 
freight  rates. 

"Who  fought  the  building  of  the  canal  for  fifteen  long, 
wearisome  years?  The  transcontinental  railroads. 

"Who  would  be  the  chief  beneficiaries  of  this  repeal 
bill?  The  same  transcontinental  railroads — the  Canadian 
Pacific  and  Tehuantepec  National  railway  heading  the 
list.  To  do  a  thing  to  enable  them  to  hold  up  their  old 
rates  is  altruistic  generosity  run  mad,  and  an  outrage  on 
the  American  people.  I  refuse  to  endorse  any  such  pro- 
gramme. 

*"The  declaration  in  favor  of  free  tolls  for  our  coast- 


*Mr.  Clark  did  not  state  that  Mr.  Roosevelt  appreciated  as  its 
greatest  importance  the  interoceanic  facilities  afforded  the  United 
States  fleet. 

*Without  consideration  of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain. 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  89 

wise  trade  was  writ  large  in  the  Baltimore  platform.  It 
is  in  these  words : 

"  'We  favor  the  exemption  from  toll  of  American  ships 
engaged  in  coastwise  trade  passing  through  the  canal. 

"  'We  also  favor  legislation  forbidding  the  use  of  the 
Panama  Canal  by  ships  owned  or  controlled  by  railroad 
carriers  engaged  in  transportation  competitive  with  the 
canal.' 

"We  went  to  the  people  on  that  platform  containing  the 
free  tolls  plank,  headed  by  President  Wilson  himself, 
who  all  endorsed  it.  Standing  upon  it  we  appealed  to  the 
voters  of  the  land  for  their  support,  and  they,  responding 
to  our  Macedonian  cry  for  help,  enabled  us  to  sweep  the 
land  from  sea  to  sea  by  amazing  majorities  in  the  electoral 
college.  And  not  as  is  proposed  that  we  reward  their 
faith  in  us  by  repudiating  one  of  the  planks  of  that  plat- 
form. I  refuse  absolutely  to  be  a  party  to  any  such  per- 
formance. 

"We  most  earnestly  desire  peace  with  all  nations;  we 
will  buy  peace  from  none.  In  the  memorable  words  of 
the  immortal  Pickney,  'Millions  for  defense,  but  not  one 
cent  for  tribute/ 

"We  are  asked  to  grant  to  Great  Britain,  whom  we 
defied  and  defeated  in  our  infancy  and  whom  we  defied 
again  and  defeated  in  our  early  youth  in  the  war  of  1812 
— properly  called  'our  second  war  of  independence' — 
concessions  grounded  in  injustice  and  humiliating  in 
character — claims  for  which  concessions  had  been  aban- 
doned by  Great  Britain,  until  Senator  Elihu  Root  made 
a  speech  upholding  the  contentions  of  that  foreign  power. 

*"We  want  war  with  no  nation,  but  rather  than  surren- 


*In  view  of  the  Democratic  administration's  tardiness  in  pro- 
tecting foreign  interests  and  lives  in  Mexico,  this  may  be  taken 
cum  grano  sails. 


90  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

der  our  complete  sovereignty  over  every  square  foot  of 
our  globe-encircling  domain  we  will  cheerfully  and  cour- 
ageously face  the  world  in  arms. 

"The  amazing  request  of  the  President  for  the  repeal, 
like  the  peace  of  God,  passeth  all  understanding.  If  he 
has  any  reasons  which  are  not  utterly  untenable  and  which 
impelled  him  to  make  the  request,  he  has  not  vouchsafed 
them  to  us  as  a  body,  or,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  to  any 
member  of  the  House. 

"In  his  message  one  reason  assigned  by  the  President 
was  in  these  words: 

'  'That  exemption  constitutes  a  mistaken  economic 
policy  from  every  point  of  view.' 

"If  it  is  a  'mistaken  economic  policy'  now,  was  it  not 
'a  mistaken  economic  policy'  during  the  campaign  of  1912 
when  we  all,  under  the  head  of  the  President  himself, 
endorsed  it  as  part  of  the  Democratic  creed  on  which  we 
appealed  for  votes?  If  so,  why  did  the  President  endorse 
it  then? 

"But  it  is  not  'a  mistaken  economic  policy.'  If  so,  is 
not  our  policy  from  the  very  beginning,  of  shutting  all 
foreign  ships  out  of  our  coastwise  trade,  a  mistaken  econ- 
omic policy?'  Do  not  our  rules  of  charging  foreign  ves- 
sels for  wharfage,  dockage,  pilotage,  and  so  forth,  while 
charging  your  own  vessels  no  fees,  or  smaller  fees,  also 
constitute  'a  mistaken  economic  policy'  if  the  President 
is  correct? 

"In  short,  if  he  is  correct,  is  there  not  anything  we  can 
do  to  give  our  own  people  an  economic  advantage  what- 
soever in  the  race  for  commercial  supremacy  'a  mistaken 
economic  policy?' 

"A  second  reason  for  the  repeal  assigned  by  President 
Wilson  is  that  the  exemption  of  our  coastwise  trade  from 
payment  of  tolls  is  'in  plain  contravention  of  the  treaty 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  91 

with  Great  Britain  concerning  the  canal,  concluded  on 
November  18,  1901.' 

"Of  course,  the  President  believes  that  or  he  would 
not  have  said  it,  but  he  was  mistaken.  If  I  believed  that, 
I  would  vote  for  him,  but  I  am  as  tender  and  jealous  of 
my  country's  honor  as  he  is,  or  as  any  other  living 
man  is.* 

OPINION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

"In  the  case  of  Olsen  vs.  Smith,  reported  in  the  195th 
U.  S.  volume  332,  at  page  334,  a  case  involving  the  very 
point  involved  in  the  exemption  section  of  the  Panama 
Canal  tolls  law,  Chief  Justice  White,  then  Mr.  Justice 
White,  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court  in  these  words : 

"  'Nor  is  there  merit  in  the  contention  that,  as  the 
vessel  in  question  was  a  British  vessel  coming  from  a  for- 
eign port,  the  state  laws  concerning  pilotage  are  in  con- 
flict with  a  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  providing  that  "no  higher  or  other  duties  or 
charges  shall  be  imposed  in  any  port  of  the  United  States 
on  British  vessels,  than  those  payable  in  the  same  ports 
by  vessels  of  the  United  States."  Neither  the  exemption 
of  coastwise  steam  vessels  from  pilotage  resulting  from 
the  law  of  the  United  States,  nor  any  lawful  exemption 
of  coastwise  vessels  created  by  the  State  law,  concerns 
vessels  in  the  foreign  trade,  and  therefore  any  such  ex- 
emptions do  not  operate  to  produce  a  discrimination 
against  British  vessels  engaged  in  foreign  trade,  and  in 
favor  of  vessels  of  the  United  States  in  such  trade. 


*Article  III.,  Section  i,  Hay-Pauncefote  treaty,  says :  "The 
canal  shall  be  free  and  open  to  the  vessels  of  commerce  and  of 
war  of  all  nations  ...  on  terms  of  entire  equality,  so  that  there 
shall  be  no  discrimination  against  any  nation  or  its  citizens  or 
its  subjects  in  respect  to  the  conditions  or  charges  of  traffic  or 
otherwise." 


92  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

"  'In  substance,  the  proposition  but  asserts  that  by  the 
law  of  the  United  States  steam  vessels  in  the  coastwise 
trade  have  been  exempt  from  pilotage  regulations,  there- 
fore there  is  no  power  to  subject  vessels  in  foreign  trade 
to  pilotage  regulations,  even  although  such  regulations 
apply  without  discrimination  to  all  vessels  engaged  in 
such  foreign  trade,  whether  domestic  or  foreign.' 

"The  court  held  that  there  could  be  no  discrimination 
where  there  was  no  competition,  and  that  as  by  the  law 
of  the  United  States  only  American  vessels  can  engage 
in  coastwise  trade,  it  was  no  violation  of  the  treaty  if  the 
regulations  applied  to  all  vessels  in  the  foreign  trade. 
The  reasoning  of  the  decision  applies  equally  well  to  the 
present  situation. 

"In  his  very  able  minority  report  the  member  from 
California  (J.  R.  Knowland)  thus  elucidates  the  de- 
cision : 

"  'The  remarkable  similarity  of  the  facts  and  conditions 
in  the  Olsen  against  Smith  case  and  that  under  consid- 
eration is  apparent.  In  that  case,  it  was  urged  that  a  law 
of  the  United  States  granting  an  exemption  in  favor  of 
vessels  engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade,  was  in  violation 
of  a  treaty.  The  exemption  in  that  case  was  from  pilotage 
charges ;  in  the  present  case  it  is  from  toll  charges.  Cer- 
tainly it  cannot  be  contended  that  there  is  any  distinction 
between  the  cases  in  that  regard.' 

"In  that  case  the  language  of  the  treaty  bound  this 
country  not  to  impose  any  higher  duty  or  charges  on  Brit- 
ish vessels  than  on  vessels  of  the  United  States  in  the 
same  ports.  But  under  the  local  law  British  vessels  were 
required  to  pay  pilotage  charges  while  American  vessels 
were  completely  exempt  from  such  charges.  'A  plain 
violation  of  the  treaty,'  the  majority  would  say,  but  in 
effect  the  Supreme  Court  said :  'No ;  for  what  we  do,  or 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  93 

omit  to  do,  with  regard  to  our  coastwise  trade  is  of  no 
concern  to  any  nation,  for  they  cannot  complain  with  re- 
gard to  a  traffic  in  which  they  have  no  interest.  No  regu- 
lation, exemption  or  privilege  which  we  see  fit  to  grant 
to  our  coastwise  trade  is  a  just  subject  of  complaint,  for 
it  does  not  concern  vessels  engaged  in  the  foreign  trade.' 

"Certainly  the  President  has  never  read  the  Olsen 
against  Smith  decision  by  our  court  of  last  resort  or  he 
never  would  have  concluded  that  the  exemption  of  tolls 
on  our  coastwise  trade  was  in  plain  contravention  of  our 
treaty  with  Great  Britain. 

"If  we  have  entertained  an  engagement  which  forbids 
us  to  manage  our  own  affairs,  then  we  must  abide  by  it, 
however  foolish  or  unnecessary  that  engagement  may 
have  been.  But  have  we  ?  Here  opinions,  honest  opinions, 
differ,  not  only  American  but  British  opinions. 

"His  Majesty's  government  is  quite  certain  now  that 
exemption  of  tolls  on  our  coastwise  traffic  violates  the 
Hay-Pauncefote  Treaty,  but  it  was  very  far  from  certain 
when  its  accredited  representatives  wrote  to  our  Secre- 
tary of  State  so  late  as  July,  1912,  that  'if  the  trade 
should  be  so  regulated  as  to  make  it  certain  that  only  bona 
fide  coastwise  traffic  which  is  reserved  for  United  Str.tcs 
vessels  would  be  benefitted  by  this  exemption ;  it  may  be 
that  no  objection  could  be  taken.' 

"So  far  as  our  own  best  judges  are  concerned,  it  is 
quite  safe  to  say  that  with  the  exception  of  the  learned 
senior  Senator  from  New  York  (Mr.  Elihu  Root)  and 
our  former  highly  respected  Ambassador,  Mr.  Choate, 
the  weight  of  recognized  legal  opinion  of  the  highest 
merit,  from  Mr.  Olney,  Mr.  Taft,  Mr.  Knox  and  the 
present  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  is  a  precisely 
similar  case,  is  practically  unanimous  to  the  effect  that 
neither  legally  in  a  broad  sense  nor  technically  in  a  nar- 


94  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

row  application,  does  this  treaty  forbid  us  to  regulate 
the  transportation  of  our  own  goods  in  our  own  ships 
through  our  own  canal  between  our  own  ports. 

"The  President  differs  from  the  judgment  of  these  and 
many  other  men  of  like  understanding.  He  is  convinced 
that  the  statute,  as  it  now  stands,  does  contravene  our  sol- 
emn obligation,  and  should  therefore  be  repealed.  So  be- 
lieving, he  does  the  only  thing  that  an  honorable  and 
conscientious  head  of  the  nation  could  do ;  he  asks  to  re- 
consider your  action  in  view  of  his  conviction  that  we 
have  violated  a  pledge. 

"Whatever  may  be  the  difference  of  opinion  respecting 
the  merits  of  the  case,  I  do  President  Wilson  honor  for 
his  act.  If  I  were  in  his  place  and  believed  as  he  believes, 
I  should  do  as  he  has  done. 

"In  addition  to  the  Supreme  Court  decision  as  pointed 
out  by  Mr.  Mann,  the  same  view  is  held  by  two  Presi- 
dents, by  two  Secretaries  of  State  and  by  the  House  it- 
self on  three  separate  occasions. 

"The  plain,  unvarnished  truth  of  history  is  that  from 
the  beginning  to  the  present  hour,  what  we  do  about  our 
domestic  trade,  which  includes  the  coastwise  trade,  we 
have  continued  solely  as  our  business  and  that  foreign 
nations  have  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

"The  repeal  means  the  practical  abandonment  of  the 
M'onroe  Doctrine*,  which  we  forced  into  the  code  of  the 
international  law,  and  which  the  American  people  will 
maintain  at  all  hazards.  This  is  the  only  proposition 
they  ever  agreed  upon,  and  the  reason  they  agreed  upon 
it  was  that  it  was  a  genuine  'American'  pronouncement, 
one  to  warm  the  cockles  of  the  heart  of  every  true  'Amer- 
ican' betwixt  two  seas.  It  was  the  doctrine  of  self-de- 


*Not  recognized  by  Great  Britain. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  95 

fense.  Touch  that  doctrine  and  the  bristles  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  rise  instanter.  Those  who  assert  that  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  is  dead,  reckon  without  their  host. 

"Now  may  the  God  of  our  fathers  who  nerved  3,000,- 
000  backwoods  Americans  to  fling  their  gage  of  battle 
into  the  face  of  the  mightiest  monarch  in  the  world,  who 
guided  the  hand  of  Jefferson  in  writing  the  charter  of 
liberty,  who  sustained  Washington  and  his  ragged  and 
starving  army  amid  the  awful  horrors  of  Valley  Forge, 
and  who  gave  them  complete  victory  on  the  blood  stained 
heights  of  Yorktown,  may  He  lead  members  to  vote  so  as 
to  prevent  this  stupendous  folly — this  unspeakable  hu- 
miliation of  the  American  republic." 

Three  ballots  were  necessary  to  determine  the  issue.  The 
first  ballot  came  on  Republican  opposition  party  leader 
Mann's  motion  to  have  the  engrossed  bill  presented  to 
the  House  and  read.  This  motion  was  for  a  delay,  that 
members  might  have  a  chance  to  consider  the  arguments 
made  for  free  tolls.  The  motion  was  beaten  by  a  vote  of 
247  to  160.  The  eighty-seven  majority  against  Mann's 
motion,  considered  dilatory  by  the  Wilson  leaders,  show- 
ed the  strength  of  the  Wilson  hand. 

Again  Mann  tried  to  stem  the  tide  with  a  motion  to  re- 
commit the  bill  for  amendment  in  committee.  This  was 
suggested  by  Speaker  Clark,  who  urged  that  the  whole 
matter  of  tolls  be  left  open  to  the  Government  for  two 
years. 

On  the  roll  call  demanded  by  Mr.  Mann,  the  Wilson 
forces  showed  a  strength  of  232  to  176,  a  majority  of  56, 
that  would  brook  no  delay  in  the  final  settlement  by  the 
House  of  the  question. 

The  result  on  division  was  in  favor  of  repeal :  247  ayes 
and  161  nays,  or  a  majority  of  86  for  President  Wilson. 


96  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

Contributing  to  this  majority  were  twenty-seven  Re- 
publicans whom  Republican  Leader  Mann  could  not  hold 
to  his  great  plea  for  free  tolls  without  regard  to  party. 
Fifty-two  of  the  Democratic  (Government)  members 
came  to  the  support  of  Speaker  Clark,  Floor  Leader  Un- 
derwood and  the  other  great  Democrats  who  fought  to 
save  free  tolls. 

The  announcement  of  the  vote  at  7 :16  o'clock  was  re- 
ceived in  comparative  silence. 

One  able  writer,  Mr.  Alfred  Henry  Lewis,  writing  for 
the  Hearst  papers  (Independent  Democratic)  which  ex- 
tend across  the  American  continent,  said  the  following 
day: 

"Bunker  Hill  was  declared  a  failure,  Yorktown  a  mis- 
take and  this  country  relegated  to  its  original  position  as 
a  province  of  the  British  crown  by  a  House  majority  of 
86.  England  should  now  consider  and  doubtless  will, 
what  reward  is  due  from  her  to  the  timid  knee-bending 
Wilson. 

"In  the  debate  which  preceded  this  national  disgrace, 
the  Champ  Clark  speech  was  the  master  effort.  Whether 
or  not  it  convinced  Congress  it  will  at  least  convince  the 
country.  Clear,  strong,  honest,  full  of  courage,  it  was  in 
mighty  contrast  to  the  canal  message  of  Mr.  Wilson,  in 
which  nothing  stood  out  except  the  Wilson  timidity.  That 
was  the  worst  thing  about  Mr.  Wilson's  canal  utterance. 
Its  one  appeal  was  to  cowardice,  its  one  argument  fear. 

"We  must  give  England  her  way,  and  though  the  way 
be  wrong,  we  must  pay  for  the  canal  those  $400,000,000 ; 
we  must  pay  those  annual  $30,000,000  required  to  main- 
tain it.  And  then  perforce  we  must  tamely  operate  it  in 
accordance  with  England's  will  and  under  England's 
dominating  thumb.  Why?  Because — according  to  the 
hair-hung  ghost-shaken  Mr.  Wilson — we  are  afraid  of 


97 

England,  afraid  of  Japan,  afraid  of  Mexico,  afraid  of 
everybody. 

"After  so  abject  an  utterance  from  its  White  House 
it  needed  such  a  speech  as  Speaker  Clark's  to  restore  the 
country's  self  respect." 

Many  thousands  read  and  believe  this  kind  of  comment 
who  never  knew  there  was  a  treaty  in  existence  or  were 
ignorant  of  its  substance. 

The  issue  was  not  without  its  comedy.  The  constitu- 
ents of  an  extreme  western  state  sent  the  following  tele- 
gram to  one  of  its  Congressional  representatives  who 
voted  against  the  President. 

"Have  read  your  brilliant  speech  declaring  your  own 
and  America's  willingness  to  fight  the  world.  In  such  a 
gigantic  struggle  your  patriotic  services  will  be  needed, 
and  we  proffer  our  efforts  to  obtain  for  you  a  conspicu- 
ous position  on  the  front  of  the  firing  line." 

The  chaotic  condition  of  the  existing  Congress  over 
the  Panama  question — the  Democratic  party  divided 
against  itself,  the  Republican  party  (the  opposition)  di- 
vided against  itself ;  the  third  officer  of  the  United  States 
set  against  the  President  in  policy  on  this  question  in  an 
endeavor  to  wreck  a  treaty  existing  at  the  time  he  en- 
tered his  present  office,  is  the  direct  result  of  an  ineffi- 
cient State  Department.  Mr.  Clark's  endeavor  to  actually 
decrease  the  revenues  which  should  accrue  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  from  the  operation  of  the 
Canal,  by  advocating  free  tolls  for  certain  ships,  admit- 
tedly United  States  ships,  is  antagonistic  to  good  finance, 
in  that  the  $400,000,000  cost,  and  annual  up-keep,  to- 
gether with  the  interest  to  bondholders,  has  to  be  repaid 
to  the  people  who  advanced  it :  and  these  very  payments 
by  the  coastwise  ship  traffic  would  be  a  large  factor  in 
liquidation  to  the  people  on  the  investment  they  have 


98  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

made.  Mr.  Clark's  arguments  do  not  appear  to  be  sound, 
financially  or  diplomatically,  whatever  they  may  be  po- 
litically. His  policy  would  result  in  the  elimination  of 
income  derived  from  coastwise  traffic  which,  proportion- 
ately, should  be  applicable  to  interest  and  the  repayment 
of  capital  account  to  all  the  people,  and  secondly  it  in- 
volves the  violation  of  a  treaty. 


AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  99 


CHAPTER  XII. 
MEXICO. 

In  1881  Mr.  William  Ewart  Gladstone  surrendered  to 
the  Boers  in  South  Africa  after  Majuba.  The  last  South 
African  war  was  the  outcome  of  that  surrender.  It  was  a 
sanguinary  and  long  drawn  out  campaign.  The  position 
the  United  States  occupies  in  relation  to  Mexico  is  simi- 
lar in  some  respects.  It  has  not  forcefully  intervened  to 
protect  the  lives  or  property  of  its  people  living  in  that 
Republic,  nor  in  any  respect  has  it  caused  prompt  armed 
intervention  to  protect  the  lives  or  property  of  the  sub- 
jects of  foreign  nations,  although  reprisals  were  in 
effect  on  April  21st  from  other  causes.  This  peculiar  in- 
terpretation of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  not  in  accordance 
with  the  application  of  the  theory  of  "Policing  Latin 
America,"  and  the  result  may  be,  that  begotten  of  this 
policy,  the  United  States  will  have  to  participate  in  con- 
flicts sooner  or  later,  much  the  same  as  England  did  in 
South  Africa  as  a  result  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  weak  mili- 
tary policy.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  had  he  used  a 
firm  hand  in  1881,  the  last  war  would  have  been  unneces- 
sary. A  firm  military  policy  in  Mexico  today  will  obviate 
more  serious  complications  later. 

The  condition  in  Mexico  for  a  year  prior  to  and  three 
years  after  the  resignation  of  Porfirio  Diaz  was  one  of 
riotous  bloodshed.  The  indiscriminate  and  unjustifiable 
slaughter  of  over  three  hundred  unoffending  and  indus- 
trious Chinamen  at  Torreon  by  the  Madero  insurrection- 
ists, was  the  most  outrageous  exhibition  of  blood-thirsti- 


100  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

ness  ever  enacted  in  a  Christian  country,  excepting  only 
St.  Bartholomew. 

The  children  in  Torreon  played  with  the  heads  of  the 
victims  on  the  streets  and  pulled  them  about  by  the  pig- 
tails. The  Madero  Government  consented  to  a  small  in- 
demnity to  China. 

The  resignation  of  Diaz  (1911)  left  Madero,  who  had 
been  recognized  by  the  United  States  as  President  despite 
the  Chinese  massacre,  at  the  head  of  the  Government. 
Assassination,  insurrection  and  war  were  rife  during  his 
supremacy.  At  this  time  the  Covadonga  incident  occurred  : 
Two  Germans,  man  and  wife,  were  attacked  by  Mader- 
istas.  The  wife  was  outraged  by  soldiers  in  the  presence 
of  her  husband.  She  was  then  mutilated  and  broken  beer 
bottles  thrust  into  the  amputated  breasts.  The  husband 
was  then  killed.  Photographs  taken  at  the  time,  and  now 
in  possession  of  the  American  Press  Association  at  New 
York,  exhibit  the  shocking  condition  of  the  bodies  of 
these  foreign  victims.  The  incident  is  well  known  at  the 
German  Foreign  office,  and  copies  of  the  photographs  are 
said  to  be  in  the  possession  of  a  very  important  German 
personage. 

An  English  ex-army  officer,  living  at  Tampico,  who 
had  expressed  political  opinions,  was  found  decapitated 
near  the  banks  of  the  Panuco  River.  The  name  of  this 
officer  is  in  possession  of  Colonel  H.  S.  Fitzgerald,  C.  B., 
who  had  the  matter  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  But  for  the  attention  attracted  to  buzzards 
devouring  the  body,  the  murder  would  not  have  been  dis- 
covered. 

In  addition  to  the  above  was  the  murder  of  Mr.  Mac- 
Kenzie  and  other  Americans  in  Sonora  during  the  Diaz 
administration.  Mr.  MacKenzie,  a  Yale  graduate,  was 
the  partner  of  Mr.  W.  C.  Potter,  then  a  practicing  min- 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  101 

ing  engineer  of  Chicago,  and  a  son-in-law  of  the  late  Mr. 
Paul  Morton,  ex-Secretary  of  the  United  States  Navy. 

A  condition  of  rapine  and  murder  of  Europeans,  Asi- 
atic and  United  States  citizen  residents,  has  been  con- 
tinuous in  Mexico  now  for  nearly  four  years,  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  authentic  partial  list  of  the  attrocities  com- 
mitted : 

1.  Mrs.  Anderson,  daughter  and  neighbor  boy,  killed 
June  22,  1911,  Chihuahua.   Murderers  arrested  by  assist- 
ance of  Americans.   Confessed,  served  six  months  in  jail 
and  released.    Madero  soldiers. 

2.  Mabel   Richardson,   little  girl,   outraged.    Colonia 
Juarez.   No  attempt  made  to  punish  perpetrators. 

3.  James    D.    Harvey,    killed,    State    of    Chihuahua. 
March,  1912,  and  mutilated  with  a  spade.   Nothing  done. 

4.  William    Adams,    killed    July    2,    1912,  with  his 
daughter's  arms  around  him,  by  Mexican  officer.    Noth- 
ing done. 

5.  Thomas  Fountain,  executed  after  courtmartial  by 
Salazar,  at  Parral,  after  protest  from  the  U.  S.  Gov- 
ernment.   Madero    and    others    threatened  by  Mr.  Taft. 
Nothing  done.  Salazar  later  arrested  in  the  U.  S.  charged 
with  smuggling  and  later  released.    Now  being  held  at 
Fort  Bliss.    (Madero  administration.) 

6.  Joshua  Stevens,  killed  near  Colonia  Pacheco,  Mex- 
ico, August  26,  1912,  in  defending  his  daughters  from  at- 
tack.  The  girls,  one  with  a  stick,  the  other  with  a  shot- 
gun, drove  their  assailants  away. 

7.  John  Brooks,  Texan,  killed  at  Colonia  Chuchucpa, 
Chihuahua,  in  1913.     (Insurrectionists.) 

8.  Killing  of  Rogers  Palmer,  Englishman,  because  of 
failure  to  open  safe  at  Durango  about  June  18,   1913. 
(Insurrectionists.) 


102  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

9.  Wounding    of    Carlos    Van    Brandis  and  L.  W. 
Elder,  Americans,  about  the  same  time,  by  explosion  of 
bomb  used  to  force  door  where  foreigners  had  taken  ref- 
uge.   Foreigners  compelled  to  pay  ransom.    (Insurrec- 
tionists.) 

10.  W.  N.  Steep,  American,  about  the  same  time,  shot 
on  failure  to  pay  500  pesos.    (Bandits.) 

11.  A.  W.  Lauriaut,  English  subject,  stripped,  beat- 
en, shot  and  left  for  dead  about  the  same  time.  (Bandits.) 

12.  Edmund  Hayes,  American,  employe  of  Madera 
Company;  also  Robert  Thomas,  negro,  killed  at  Madera 
by  Mexican  Federal  officer,  Santa  Caraveo,  and  demand 
made  by  Secretary  Bryan  on  Federals  through  embassy 
and  Marion  Letcher  for  arrest  and  punishment.   Nothing 
done  until  September  11,  when  Senator  Fall  called  atten- 
tion of  the  State  Department  and  President  to  the  fact 
that  this  officer  was  in  Juarez,  five  minutes  ride  from  El 
Paso.  On  the  telegram  he  was  formally  arrested  and  later 
discharged. 

13.  B.    Stowe,   shot  in   Chihuahua  by   rebels,    1912 
Nothing  done. 

14.  Benjamin  Griffin,  rancher,  murdered  July  5,  1913, 
near  Chuichupa  by  bandits. 

15.  John  H.  Williams,    mining    engineer,    killed  by 
stray  bullet  March  8,  1913,  when  rebels  attacked  Naco- 
zari. 

16.  Boris  Gorow,  consulting  engineer,  killed  when  an 
attack  was  made  on  Neuvo  Buena  Vista  on  February  11, 
1913. 

17.  U.  G.  Wolf,  mining  engineer,  murdered  July  16, 
1913,  by  outlaws  in  Northern  Sonora. 

18.  Mrs.  E.  W.  Holmes,  killed  by  shell  during  bom- 
bardment of  Mexico  City,  February,  1913. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  103 

19.  Frank  Ward,  shot  in  back  by  bandits  in  his  home 
near  Yago,  Tepic  territory,  April  9,  1913. 

20.  John  S.  H.  Howard,  United  States  customs  in- 
spector, assassinated  near  Eagle  Pass,  Tex.,  February  10, 
1913. 

21.  Pablo  Soto,  merchant  of  Naco,  Ariz.,  killed  by  a 
stray  bullet  March  8,  1913,  when  rebels  attacked  Naco- 
March  24,  1913. 

22.  L.  Bushnell,  mounted  police,  killed  in  Naco,  Ariz., 
March  24,  1913,  by  a  bullet  fired  by  rebels. 

23.  Frank  Howard,  killed  by  bandits  in  Coalcoman, 
State  of  Michoacan,  in  March,  1913. 

24.  Herbert  L.  Russell,  manager  of  American  Vice- 
Consul  McCaughan's  ranch  near  city  of  Durango,  mur- 
dered by  Rebels  September  29,  1912.    Consul  Theodore 
C.  Hamm  cabled  report  to  the  Department  of  State. 

25.  Robert  Williams,   policeman   of   Phoenix,   Ariz., 
killed  by  Mexican  bandits  who  crossed  the  line  to  attend 
a  celebration  of  Mexican  independence  day  in  Phoenix, 
September  16,  1912. 

26.  Scott  Price,  bystander,  killed  when  bandits  were 
firing  on  Williams. 

27.  N.  Matheson,  aged  and  crippled  Mormon,  killed 
while  fleeing  from  Colonia,  Morelos,  Sonora,  September 
16,  1912,  when  bandits  were  looting  town. 

28.  McKenzie,  an  American  resident,  executed  near 
Agua  Prieta,  September,  1912,  because  the  Rebels  sus- 
pected he  had  given  information  to  Federal  troops. 

29.  W.  H.  Waite,  manager  of  the  Esmeraldas  planta- 
tion at  Ochotal,  Vera  Cruz,  killed  in  April,  1912,  when  he 
refused  to  pay  money  demanded  by  bandits.   He  was  be- 
headed. 

30.  H.  L.  Strauss,  formerly  a  newspaper  correspond- 
ent, killed  with  thirty-four  other  non-combatants  when 


104 

Zapatistas  held  up  train  August  11,  1912,  near  Cuatla, 
Morelos. 

31.  Thomas    C.    Kane,    conductor    on  a  Guanajuato 
railroad.   Shot  through  head  when  bandits  wrecked  train 
at  Silao  and  killed  many  passengers  on  April  10,  1912. 

32.  Pehr  Olsson  Seffer,  formerly  a  professor  in  the 
University  of  California,  killed  by  rebels  April  20,  1911, 
together  with  three  of  his  servants  near  Cuernavaca. 

33.  R.  H.  Ferguson,  of  San  Francisco,  a  member  of 
Troop  F,  Third  U.  S.  Cavalry,  killed  by  a  bullet  fired 
over  the  border. 

34.  Two  unidentified  men  killed  May  9,  1911,  in  El 
Paso  by  stray  bullets  fired  by  Federals  and  Rebels. 

35.  Dr.  R.  C.  Clarke,  Taylorsville,  111.,  shot  dead  in 
Mexico  City  May  27,  1911,  by  a  partisan  of  General  Diaz. 

36.  John  R.  Lockhard,  Scott  City,  Mo.,  mining  engi- 
neer, killed  by  bandits  in  Durango,  November,  1911. 

37.  R.  N.  Meredith,  Troy,  Ohio,  struck  by  bullet  in 
Porter  Hotel  during  the  bombardment  in  Mexico  City  in 
February. 

38.  Mrs.  Percy  Griffith,  legs  shot  off  during  bombard- 
ment in  Mexico  City. 

39.  A.  E.  Thomas,  murdured  by  bandits  while  pro- 
tecting his  wife  and  seven  children  near  Nogales,  Sonora, 
March  10,  1912. 

40.  Robert    Huntington,     railroad     switchman,    shot 
without  cause  near  Agua  Prieta,  April  13,  1911.   (Out- 
laws.) 

41.  J.  C.  Edwards,  native  of  Virginia,  shot  to  death 
while  accidentally  within  rebel  lines  near  Agua  Prieta, 
April  13,  1911. 

42.  Stephens  Foster,  Newark,  N.  J.,  killed  at  Alamo, 
southern  part  of  California,  June,  1911,  because  he  had 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  105 

professionally  treated  a  wounded  insurgent  a  few  days 
before.    (Federalists.) 

43.  John  Hertling,  Douglas,  Ariz.,  German- American 
citizen,  hanged  near    Nogales   by   rebels   under   Orozco, 
July,  1912.    (Insurrectionists.) 

44.  Guide  Schubert,  German,  Douglas,  Ariz.,  friend 
of  Hertling;  hanged  at  same  time.    (Insurrectionists.) 

45.  John  Camp,  killed  near  U.  S.  Immigration  station 
in  El  Paso,  May  9,  1911,  when  the  rebels  attacked  Juarez 

46.  Antonio  Garcia,  killed  at  El  Paso,  May  9,  1911, 
by  stray  bullet  fired  by  rebels. 

47.  Clarence  H.  Cooper,  throat  cut  with  a  knife  and 
robbed  at  Pearson,  August  4,  1913,  he  being  the  acting 
superintendent  there.    (Insurrectionists.) 

48.  Graham    Taylor,    at    Aguas    Calientas;    English; 
robbed,  stripped,  August    13,    1913.    Taylor    died  from 
wounds  and  left  letter  giving  details  of  attack,  addressed 
to  his  wife  at  Laredo,  Texas.    An  unknown  American 
was  killed  on  same  road  two  days  before.    (Anti- Ameri- 
can bandits.) 

49.  Thomas  or  Theron  Kelly,  American ;  extra  pas- 
senger conductor,  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  Rev.  Ber- 
nard Kelly  of  Emporia,  Kas.,  who  was  at  one  time  chap- 
lain of  the  U.  S.  Congress. 

50.  H.  F.  Mauders,    superintendent    of    the    express 
service  on  the  Mexico  Northwestern  Railroad,  native  of 
Woodland,    Cal.     (Insurrectionists.) 

51.  Lee  Williams,  assistant  to  the  commissary  man- 
ager at  Madera,  25  years  old,  son  of  E.  H.  Williams  of 
Philadelphia.     ( Insurrectionists. ) 

52.  John  E.  Webster,  railroad  conductor.    (Insurrec- 
tionists.) 

53.  E.  J.  McCutcheon,  engineer.    (Insurrectionists.) 


106  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

54.  M.  J.  Gilmartin,  superintendent  of  N.  W.  R.  R. 
system.    ( Insurrectionists. ) 

55.  Bernard  Schofield,  railroad  terminal  superintend- 
ent in  Juarez.    (Insurrectionists.) 

56.  J.  I.  Myers,  railroad  roadmaster  of  the  Juarez  di- 
vision.   (Insurrectionists.) 

57.  James  Burgess.    (Insurrectionists.) 

58.  Mrs.  Lee  Carruth  and  five  children.    (Insurrec- 
tionists.) 

59.  Alfred  Olcott,  wounded  in  Sonora  with  his  part- 
ner in  defending  the  latter's  wife  and  daughter  from  out- 
rage. 

60.  Qemente  Vergara.    (American.) 

61.  Gustave  Bauch. 

62.  William  Benton,  English. 

63.  Joshua  Stevens,  American,  killed  near  Tampico. 
while  defending  his  daughters  from  attack. 

64.  One  of  the  most  terrible  cases  was  that  of  the 
killing  of  Frank  Ward,  an  American,  and  the  attack  on 
his  wife.    Senator  Fall  informed  the  U.  S.  Senate  Com- 
mittee there  was  on  file  in  the  American  embassy  at  Mex- 
ico City,  an  affidavit  by  Mrs.  Ward  that  when  her  hus- 
band was  shot  and  was  writhing  in  the  pain  of  his  horri- 
ble wounds,  she  was  assailed  by  Mexican  bandits,  who 
then  killed  her  husband. 

65.  Mrs.  Florence    Stevens,   English,   injured  during 
bombardment  of  Mexico  City. 

66.  Private  Parks,  U.  S.  A.,  executed  at  Vera  Cruz 
by  General  Mass  (Federal).   Taken  prisoner  in  uniform 
May,  1914. 


AT    THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  107 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Madero's  supremacy  was  short.  He  had  ascended  by 
election  from  the  grade  of  insurgent  to  the  Federal  head 
of  Mexico  and  then  he  had  to  deal  with  what  he,  in  turn, 
termed  "Insurrectos ;"  with  Emilio  Zapata  at  the  head  of 
7000  men  operating  in  the  States  of  Vera  Cruz  and  Mex- 
ico, who  is  perhaps  the  most  unselfish  patriot  of  all  the 
modern  Mexican  malcontents,  in  that  he  has  been  fight- 
ing for  a  principle  alone,  and  is  accredited  with  giving 
receipts  for  what  he  commandeers.  His  fight  is  against 
the  holding  by  individuals  of  enormous  grants  of  land 
given  by  former  governments.  In  47  years,  (1821  to 
1868)  the  form  of  government  changed  ten  times,  and 
over  fifty  persons  succeeded  each  other  as  Presidents, 
Dictators  and  Emperors  of  Mexico.  Both  Emperors  were 
shot;  Iturbide  on  his  return  from  London  in  1824,  and 
Maximillian,  neglected  by  Napoleon  III,  who  had  placed 
him  on  the  Mexican  throne,  in  1867. 

The  cause  of  Zapata's  fight  is  an  endeavor  to  rectify 
the  wrongs  of  concession  committed  by  these  and  more 
recent  administrations. 

Francisco  Madero  was  a  wealthy,  educated,  impracti- 
cal idealist,  but  quite  unsuited  to  the  highly  temperamen- 
tal and  warlike  nature  of  the  Mexicans,  which  is  inher- 
ited from  the  Conquistadores  and  Indian  progenitors.  He 
promised  what  may  be  termed  a  division  of  the  land 
among  his  adherents.  *Dos  pertenencias  y  una  vaca.  This 
promise  was  unfulfilled  after  two  years,  and  caused  the 
fire  of  revolution  to  again  break  out  in  various  parts  of 


*"Three  acres  and  a  cow"  kind  of  policy. 


108 

the  Republic.  During  this  period,  United  States  citizens 
and  foreigners  were  openly  assaulted,  insulted  on  the 
streets  of  Mexico  City  and  in  other  places,  killed  and 
their  property  destroyed. 

General  Bernado  Reyes,  the  former  Governor  of  Nuevo 
Leon,  took  the  field  against  him  in  1912,  but  was  quickly 
captured  and  imprisoned  in  Mexico  D.  F.  During  Janu- 
ary, 1913,  intrigue  matured  into  open  rebellion,  the  stu- 
dents of  Tlalpam  released  Reyes  from  prison,  and  the  na- 
tional palace  in  Mexico  City  was  attacked. 

Reyes  was  one  of  the  first  killed.  General  Diaz  (nephew 
of  Porfirio)  and  General  Huerta  quickly  occupied  the 
arsenal  and  bombarded  the  city.  The  streets  were  littered 
with  dead  and  wounded.  The  President's  uncle  was  as- 
sassinated and  the  President  made  prisoner  and  sub- 
sequently assassinated  together  with  the  Vice-President, 
Pino  Suarez,  in  the  National  Palace  by  the  tacit  consent 
of  General  Huerta.  After  the  assassination  the  dead 
bodies  were  placed  in  a  motor  car,  and  a  counterfeit  at- 
tempt to  rescue  was  made  by  Huertistas  by  privy  ar- 
rangement to  obscure  the  truth  while  the  car  was  en 
route  between  the  palace  and  the  penitentiary. 

Later  General  Huerta,  by  finesse,  drove  the  younger 
Diaz  from  Mexico  and  assumed  power,  which  was  recog- 
nized by  all  foreign  governments  except  the  United 
States.  Since  that  refusal  Mexico  has  been  a  slaughter 
house  and  hotbed  of  insurrection.  Its  fires  were  kindled 
in  every  corner,  and  when  partially  extinguished  in  one 
place,  broke  out  in  another. 

In  extent  the  damage  to  foreign  property,  commercial 
and  industrial  interests  was  incalcuable.  Railroads  were 
destroyed  and  are  economically  inoperative.  Bridges,  cul- 
verts, and  right  of  way  were  destroyed  for  hundreds  of 
miles.  Freight  traffic  was  suspended.  Troop  trains  at- 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  109 

tached  to  passenger  trains  were  dynamited  by  other  in- 
surrectionists and  the  loss  of  life  from  all  causes  may  be 
conservatively  set  down  as  exceeding  30,000  since  the  de- 
parture of  General  Diaz.  The  number  of  sick  and  wound- 
ed will  never  be  known,  as  statistics  covering  the  subject 
are  as  little  regarded  as  are  the  unorganized  commissary 
or  medical  corps. 

Certainly  the  business  interests  of  Paris,  Berlin,  New 
York  and  London  wish  to  know  how  the  matter  is  to  be 
adjusted.  The  bonds  of  the  destroyed  railroads  had  been 
purchased  in  those  cities.  The  railroad  investment  is  not 
the  only  one.  Foreign  owned  mines  and  industries  where 
millions  of  foreign  capital  have  been  employed,  are  closed 
to  operation.  Smelters  at  Chihuahua,  Torreon,  Monte- 
rey, Aguas  Calientes  and  San  Luis  Potosi,  involving  more 
hundreds  of  millions  of  foreign  capital,  have  suspended 
operations. 

The  oil  fields  of  Vera  Cruz  and  Tamaulipas  were 
threatened  and  harrassed  and  the  export  production  dou- 
bly taxed  by  the  conflicting  parties.  These  interests  alone 
may  easily  be  valued  in  combined  European  and  United 
States  capital  at  an  aggregate  of  $500,000,000.  One  Eng- 
lish company,  the  Aguila,  alone  has  an  investment  of 
8,000,000  pounds  sterling  and  one  American  company 
(Doheny's  interests)  an  investment  of  $50,000,000  while 
there  are  seventy  other  operative  oil  concerns  in  the  Vera 
Cruz  fields,  including  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad; 
John  Hays  Hammond's  interests  (Goldfields  of  South 
Africa,  Limited)  and  the  Waters  Pierce  Oil  Company, 
whose  works  were  reported  destroyed  in  April,  1914,  to 
gether  with  other  foreign  interests,  with  a  loss  of  $5,- 
000,000. 

Foreign  banks  in  Mexico  have  refused  deposits  and 
have  practically  suspended  business.  German  shipping 


110  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

firms  and  German  ships  are  suffering,  so  also  are  those 
of  English  and  United  States  firms.  The  loss  to  foreign 
investors  is,  computed  in  the  aggregate,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  $1,500,000  (gold)  per  day. 

Both  the  British  and  German  Governments  have  pro- 
tested vigorously  concerning  the  non-protection  of  the 
Vera  Cruz  oil  fields.  Their  interest  is  due  to  oil  con- 
tracts for  their  navies. 

After  the  Marconi  investigation,  which  involved  cer- 
tain members  of  the  British  Cabinet,  public  feeling  was 
that  members  of  the  Government  should  abstain  from 
speculation  in  Government  projects.  While  this  subject 
was  "white-hot"  in  the  Parliament,  Mr.  Winston  Church- 
ill, the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  informed  the  House 
in  words  to  the  effect  that  he  did  not  care  if  members  of 
the  House  owned  shares  in  the  Eagle  (Aguila)  Oil  Com- 
pany (Lord  Cowdray's),  but  proposed  to  publicly  inform 
them  that  an  oil  contract  for  the  (British)  Navy  would 
be  let  to  that  company.  About  that  time  Lord  Cowdray 
let  contracts  for  the  building  of  twenty  oil  tank  steam- 
ers of  an  average  carrying  capaciy  of  12,000  tons  each, 
to  ship  oil  from  Tampico  and  Tuxpan  to  Europe.  Most 
of  these  are  in  commission  today. 

As  Lord  Murray  (of  Elibank),  formerly  chief  Liberal 
whip  of  the  present  Liberal  government,  is  an  associate 
of  Lord  Cowdray,  and  as  the  latter  in  addition  to  his  oil 
interests  in  Mexico,  is  interested  in  the  Isthmian  Railroad 
of  Tehuantepec,  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  the  source  of 
British  anxiety  and  pressure  for  protection. 

Is  the  British  Government  entitled  to  it  from  the  Unit- 
ed States  Government  in  view  of  Mr.  Olney's  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  ?  Fair  minded  men  will  say : 
Yes !  The  United  States  Government  is  not  dealing  with 
private  corporations  in  this  instance,  such  as  the  Hu- 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  111 

asteca  Oil  Company,  or  Mexican  Petroleum  Company, 
whose  American  interests  can  apparently  be  disregarded 
with  impunity.  The  interests  of  the  Government  of  Great 
Britain  are  directly  affected  and  the  pressure  behind  its 
complaint  to  the  British  Cabinet,  not  only  on  Lord  Cow- 
dray's  account,  but  because  the  Mexican  situation  effects 
the  oil  supply  for  the  British  Navy.  The  neutrality  of  that 
navy  might  be  appreciated  some  day  by  the  United  States 
Government  in  the  event  of  trouble  with  Asiatics.  Ger- 
many is  also  scowling  for  similar  and  other  reasons. 

Will  the  State  Department  of  the  United  States  ever 
realize  that  barbarians  must  be  conquered  before  they  can 
be  pampered  ?  It  is  the  simple  history  of  civilization.  The 
sword  in  one  hand,  fire-water  in  the  other  and  the  Holy 
Script  may  follow.  That  has  been  Britain's  method  of 
civilization  and  colonization,  and  by  that  method  it  has 
overturned  tyranny,  rebellion  and  barbarism  on  three 
continents  in  the  last  three  decades,  and  now  controls  the 
whole  of  one  continent,  the  major  part  of  another,  nearly 
one-half  of  North  America  and  a  very  large  part  of  Asia 
These  annexations  matured  during  the  Victorian  period. 
Queen  Victoria  hated  war,  but  never  avoided  it  when  the 
occasion  demanded  it  for  the  uplifting  of  Britain  and  ex- 
tension of  civilization.  Great  Britain  had  to  fight  for  ex- 
pansion and  civilization,  so  will  America  or  be  humiliated. 
France  and  Germany  adopted  the  same  policy.  The  Unit- 
ed States  is  merely  temporizing. 

In  Mexico  Spanish  subjects  were  expelled  without  rea- 
son, except  that  they  are  Spaniards. 

A  dispatch  to  the  Press  from  El  Paso,  Texas,  dated 
April  8th,  1914,  said : 

"The  Spanish  refugees  from  Torreon  began  crossing 
the  international  bridges  (El  Paso)  shortly  after  eight 
o'clock  this  morning,  it  was  not  until  this  evening  that  the 


112  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

last  of  the  unhappy  refugees  was  safe  on  the  American 
side. 

"The  delay  was  caused  by  the  physical  examination  of 
the  600  men,  women  and  children  composing  the  caval- 
cade. 

"The  examination  of  the  baggage  was  merely  perfunc- 
tory, they  having  no  baggage  except  a  few  small  grips 
and  some  bundles  of  clothing.  All  had  been  taken  from 
them  before  leaving  Torreon. 

"Refugees  said  that  they  had  been  stripped  of  most  of 
their  belongings  of  value  before  being  put  on  board  the 
train  at  Torreon.  They  were  forced  to  open  the  bundles 
and  the  Mexican  officers  took  all  new  articles  of  cloth- 
ing and  all  articles  of  linen  that  were  clean,  saying  to  the 
Spaniards :  'When  you  came  to  Mexico  you  had  nothing 
but  a  dirty  shirt,  and  you  can  leave  Mexico  that  way.' 
Among  the  refugees  are  some  of  the  richest  and  most 
prominent  of  the  Spanish  residents  of  Mexico,  chief 
among  them  being  Rafael  Arozarena,  cotton  king  and  mil- 
lionaire of  the  Laguna  district.  Like  others,  he  brought 
but  a  small  hand  grip  containing  some  clothing. 

"Other  prominent  Spanish  business  men  of  note  among 
the  refugees  are  Jose  A.  Gonio,  J.  Serano  and  A.  Arre- 
bijillaya. 

"The  Roman  Catholic  priests  of  Torreon  were  also  ex- 
iled with  the  Spanish  subjects.  One  of  the  exiles  is  Gen- 
eral Ricon  Gallardo,  who  is  a  Spanish  subject  and  re- 
tains his  title  of  Marquis  de  Guadalupe." 

Inconsistency  of  action  is  again  clearly  demonstrated 
on  the  part  of  the  U.  S.  Emigration  officers.  These  poor 
harrassed  refugees  were  made  to  go  through  the  pre- 
scribed form  of  medical  examination  with  a  fair  chance 
that  many  of  their  number  might  be  refused  admission ; 
in  which  case  they  would  have  been  between  the  "Devil 


General  de  Devision  Don  Porfirio  D 


GENERAL  PORFIRIO  DIAZ 

President  of  the  United  States  of  Mexico  for  thirty-four  years.     He  raised 

the  Republic  to  a  high  plane  of  prosperity,  and  on  retiring 

left  $40,000,000  in  gold    in  its  treasury 


113 

and  the  deep  sea;"  whereas  the  same  government  but  a 
few  weeks  before  took  to  its  heart  and  nourished,  without 
question,  preliminary  examination  or  quibble,  some  five 
thousand  filthy  followers  and  deserting  soldiers  of  both 
sides,  Mexicans  with  all  their  dogs,  cats,  chickens  and 
other  live  stock. 

The  German  Consul  at  Vera  Cruz  received  a  wireless 
message  from  the  German  Cruiser  "Dresden"  stationed 
at  Tampico,  to  send  to  that  port  as  quickly  as  possible 
the  German  steamer  Kronprinzessin  Cecilie  to  facilitate 
the  embarkation  of  fleeing  German  victims. 

Neither  Europe  nor  Asia  takes  "America"  seriously  in 
its  foreign  policy.  They  view  it  tolerantly  and  with  grim 
humor. 

What  Europe  does  take  seriously  is,  that  "America"  is 
a  good  customer  and  a  convenience,  and  is  temporarily 
placid.  The  opinion  has  been  advanced,  and  not  unrea- 
sonably, that  the  American  expression,  "How  much  is 
there  in  it  for  me  ?"  sums  up  the  growing  attitude  of  the 
country  in  politics  as  well  as  in  religious  schisms,  and  that 
most  other  things  are  subsidiary  to  that  question  and  its 
answer. 

The  administration  of  the  United  States  has  been  in- 
effective in  pacifying  the  Mexican  condition.  The  Ameri- 
can people  with  red  blood  in  their  veins  feel  humiliated 
at  the  government's  attitude  of  indecision,  inactivity  and 
apparent  infirmity. 

After  all  there  may  be  good  reason  for  timidity  or 
what  appears  to  be  the  chief  consideration,  apart  from 
the  cost  in  lives  and  treasure,  and  that  is  the  country's 
unpreparedness  to  undertake  armed  intervention. 

The  policy  of  the  U.  S.  Government  in  removing  the 
embargo  on  the  exportation  of  arms  from  the  United 
States  into  Mexico  has  been  questioned.  Only  the  Revo- 


114  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

lutionists  could  benefit  by  it.  The  Federalists  could  always 
get  arms  through  the  seaports  which  they  controlled. 
This  exported  war  material  soon  may  be  used  against  the 
United  States  in  the  event  of  the  United  States  occupy- 
ing Mexico.  In  the  latter  event,  probably  every  warring 
faction  in  Mexico  would  be  allied  for  its  defense. 

If  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  forcing  on 
Europe  the  present  misunderstanding  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  it  is  in  honor  bound  to  protect  foreign  lives  and 
interests  in  Latin  America.  If  not,  the  reasonable  method 
would  be  to  invite  the  powers  to  join  with  the  United 
States,  and  land  an  allied  force  in  Mexican  ports,  as  in 
the  Chinese  occupation;  or  for  the  United  States  to  es- 
tablish an  embargo  against  all  war  materials,  collect  and 
administer  the  custom  receipts  of  all  ports  as  in  the  in- 
sular fund  of  Cuba;  nominate  a  Mexican  for  the  Presi^ 
dency,  uphold  him  with  a  firm  hand  and  thus  bring  about 
an  amicable  adjustment.  The  policy  of  handing  to  the 
Revolutionists  a  knife  wherewith  to  cut  the  Federal  throat, 
as  Mr.  Bryan  has  done,  is  fatal  to  foreign  interests  and 
is  what  might  be  construed  as  a  vacillating  effort  to  let  the 
Mexicans  deplete  their  own  fighting  forces  prior  to  armed 
intervention  by  the  unprepared  forces  of  the  United 
States. 

The  obstruction  offered  to  foreign  industry,  together 
with  the  rape  of  United  States  women  and  the  murder 
of  United  States  citizens  and  other  foreigners  by  Mexi- 
cans in  Mexico,  has  been  pointedly  disregarded,  except 
that  weak  official  protests  were  made  through  the  Charge 
d'Affaires,  until  the  incident  of  the  arrest  of  the  United 
States  sailors  occurred  by  a  Mexican  Federal  official  at 
Tampico.  The  admiral  (Mayo)  demanded  an  apology 
and  a  gun  salute.  The  former  was  tendered  and  the  lat- 
ter refused  by  General  Huerta,  who  claimed  the  apology 


AT    THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  115 

he  extended  was  sufficient.  A  fleet  was  sent  to  the  Mexi- 
can Gulf  to  enforce  the  salute.  General  Huerta  cleverly 
insisted  that  a  simultaneous  salute  be  fired.  This  qualified 
apology,  it  is  reported,  Mr.  Wilson  readily  consented  to 
at  first,  and  his  consent  in  view  of  Section  102  U.  S. 
navy  regulations  which  reads  as  follows : 

"No  salute  shall  be  fired  in  honor  of  any  nation  or 
of  any  official  of  any  nation  not  formally  recognized  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States." 

This  elicited  the  following  comments  from  United 
States  Senator  Borah : 

"The  condition  is  'opera  bouffe'  that  would  be  laughed 
at  all  around  the  world." 

Other  senators  were  not  so  willing  to  accept  the  pre- 
cedents advocated  by  the  administration.  Those  prece- 
dents they  said,  might  be  all  right  in  the  case  of  an  es- 
tablished government,  but  ought  not  to  apply  in  the  case 
of  Mexico,  where  the  government  never  had  been  "form- 
ally" recognized.  On  general  principles  there  was  much 
criticism  of  the  "way  out"  of  closing  the  incident. 

"The  language  of  the  naval  regulations  appears  per- 
fectly plain,"  said  Senator  Bristow.  "How  can  you  de- 
mand a  salute  from  a  country  where  you  refuse  to  rec- 
ognize its  government?  When  Mr.  Wilson  demanded  of 
Huerta  that  he  order  the  flag  saluted,  he  made  the  de- 
mand not  of  the  individual,  but  of  the  government. 

"You  cannot  escape  from  the  fact  that  saluting  in  re- 
ply to  the  salute  given  us  as  an  apology,  recognizes  the 
Huertan  government  in  Mexico.  In  ordering  this  to  be 
done,  the  President  revises  the  naval  regulations,  giving 
to  Huerta  full  standing  as  the  actual  head  of  the  govern- 
ment, fully  and  completely  recognized  by  the  United 
States. 


116  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

"This  whole  performance  is  assinine.  If  that  is  all  this 
administration  purposed  doing  why  send"  the  whole  At- 
lantic fleet  to  Mexican  waters?  There  were  plenty  of 
vessels  there  already  to  reply  to  Huerta's  salute  of  apol- 
ogy- 

"This  looks  to  me  much  like  'baby  play'  and  not  the 
manner  of  doing  things  by  a  great  government,  but  there 
are  many  odd  things  done  by  this  government  for  which 
we  cannot  account.  In  my  judgment  it  results  merely  in 
a  recognition  of  Huerta  and  his  government.  As  the  situ- 
ation has  turned  out  it  seems  to  me  he  should  have  been 
recognized  long  ago  as  the  de  facto  government  in  the 
territory  he  controls,  and  Carranza  as  the  head  of  the  de 
facto  government  in  the  territory  he  controls.  Then  both 
could  have  been  held  responsible  for  Americans  in  their 
own  territory,  and  gone  ahead  and  fought  their  troubles 
to  an  end,  and  we  would  have  had  the  friendship  of  both 
sides.  As  it  is  now  we  are  acting  in  a  ridiculous  manner 
and  it  will  be  so  regarded  by  the  American  people.  We 
will  be  the  joke  of  the  civilized  world." 

"I  think  the  less  said  about  this  performance  the  bet- 
ter it  will  be,"  said  Senator  Works  of  California.  "It 
must  strike  the  world  as  peculiar  to  say  the  least." 

The  foreign  press  editorially  voices  foreign  govern- 
mental opinion  on  the  subject. 

"The  Daily  Telegraph  of  London  did  not  believe  Presi- 
dent Wilson  intends  to  put  into  effect  a  resolute  military 
intervention,  and  sees  no  hope  of  putting  an  end  'to  the 
anarchy,  which  has  resulted  from  the  Wilson  policy  of 
moral  intervention." 

"The  Daily  Graphic  considers  President  Wilson's  high 
moral  purposes  have  landed  the  United  States  and  the 
President  himself  'in  a  situation  of  the  greatest  difficulty 
and  embarrassment.' " 


117 

The  Graphic  continues: 

"Mexico  must  now  be  conquered  or  left  alone.  The 
idea  that  intervention  can  be  limited  to  the  occupation  of 
Tampico  and  Vera  Cruz,  is  a  fresh  delusion  which  will 
be  speedily  shattered" 

The  Standard : 

"The  big  stick  which  Roosevelt  would  have  used  long 
ago  has  at  last  been  grasped.  The  door  of  peace  is  still 
open,  but  it  rests  with  Huerta  to  avail  himself  of  the 
chance." 

The  Daily  Mail : 

"If  President  Huerta  has  the  sense  with  which  he  is 
generally  credited  in  Europe,  he  will  lose  no  time  in  mak- 
ing his  amende  honorable  to  the  United  States.  That  he 
should  deliberately  provoke  war  with  so  formidable  a 
power  on  the  question  of  a  salute  seems  unthinkable." 

The  Mail  believes  that  in  the  event  of  war  and  the 
ejection  of  Huerta  a  temporary  protectorate  of  Mexico 
is  inevitable  and  adds: 

^"President  Wilson  is  too  wise  and  humane  a  ruler  to 
consign  a  vast  country  to  the  sheer  anarchy  which  is 
bound  to  follow  the  collapse  of  such  a  government  as 
now  exists  in  Mexico." 

The  Chronicle : 

"That  any  sovereign  state  might,  without  loss  of  dig- 
nity have  condoned  the  Tampico  affront  on  receipt  of  the 
apology  which  Huerta  has  already  tendered." 


*This  argument  may  also  be  applied  to  Villa  and   Carranza 
should  they  succeed. 


118  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

All  this  time  the  situation  was  unaltered  in  Mexico  in 
relation  to  the  condition  of  foreigners,  and  without  relief 
from  the  nation  whose  duty  is  is  to  alleviate  their  suffer- 
ings. 

The  policy  of  the  United  States  was  one  of  wavering 
inaction.  It  did  no  more  to  forcibly  command  peace  in 
Mexico  than  did  any  other  nation,  although  its  citizens 
were  the  greatest  sufferers  from  the  depredations  of  the 
Mexicans.  No  reprisal  was  made  on  the  grounds  of  the 
murder  and  rape  of  its  citizens,  or  the  destruction  of  their 
possessions.  Instead  arms  were  permitted,  by  administra- 
tive edict,  to  cross  the  frontier  for  the  Insurrectionists 
who  are  responsible  for  many  murders,  including  the  mur- 
der of  the  British  subject  Benton.  Peace  at  any  price  was 
the  attitude  of  the  State  Department. 

This  condition  existed  until  an  incident  occurred  which 
is  best  described  in  the  words  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  delivered  to  Congress  on  April  20th,  1914, 
as  follows : 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Congress :  It  is  my  duty  to  call  your 
attention  to  a  situation  which  has  arisen  in  our  dealings 
with  General  Victoriano  Huerta  at  Mexico  City,  which 
calls  for  action,  and  to  ask  your  advice  and  co-operation 
in  acting  upon  it. 

"On  the  ninth  of  April  a  paymaster  of  the  United  States 
ship  Dolphin  landed  at  Iturbide  bridge  landing  at  Tam- 
pico  with  a  whaleboat  and  boat's  crew  to  take  off  certain 
supplies  needed  by  the  ship,  and  while  engaged  in  load- 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT  119 

ing  the  boat  was  arrested  by  an  officer  and  squad  of  men 
of  General  Huerta's. 

"Neither  the  paymaster  nor  anyone  of  the  boat's  crew 
were  armed.  Two  of  the  men  were  in  the  boat  when  the 
arrest  took  place,  and  were  obliged  to  leave  it  and  submit 
to  being  taken  into  custody,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  boat  carried,  both  at  her  bow  and  at  her  stern,  the  flag 
of  the  United  States.* 

"The  officer  who  made  the  arrest  was  proceeding  upon 
one  of  the  streets  of  the  town  with  his  prisoners  when 
met  by  an  officer  of  higher  authority,  who  ordered  him 
to  return  to  the  landing  and  await  orders ;  and  within  an 
hour  and  a  half  from  the  time  of  the  arrest,  orders  were 
received  from  the  commander  of  the  Huertista  forces  at 
Tampico  for  the  release  of  the  paymaster  and  his  men. 

"The  release  was  followed  by  apologies  from  the  com- 
mander and  later  by  an  expression  of  regret  by  General 
Huerta  himself.  General  Huerta  urged  that  martial  law 
obtained  at  the  time  at  Tampico ;  that  orders  had  been 
issued  that  none  should  be  allowed  to  land  at  Iturbide 
bridge;  and  that  our  sailors  had  no  right  to  land  there. 

"Our  naval  commander  at  the  port  had  not  been  noti- 
fied of  any  such  prohibition,  and  even  if  they  had  been, 
the  only  justifiable  course  open  to  the  local  authorities 
would  have  been  to  request  the  paymaster  and  his  crew 
to  withdraw,  and  to  lodge  a  protest  with  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  fleet. 

"Admiral  Mayo  regarded  the  arrest  as  so  serious  an 
affront  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the  apologies 
offered,  but  demanded  that  the  flag  of  the  United  States 


*General  Huerta  denies  this.  There  is  a  very  low  railway 
trestle  under  which  boats  have  to  pass  to  the  landing  at  Tampico 
from  the  River  Panuco.  The  possibility  of  striking  the  flag  pole 
in  order  to  clear  the  trestle  should  be  considered. 


120  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

be  saluted  with  special  ceremony  by  the  military  com- 
mander of  the  port. 

"The  incident  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  trivial  one,  espec- 
ially as  two  of  the  men  arrested  were  taken  from  the 
boat  itself — that  is  to  say,  from  territory  of  the  United 
States;  but  had  it  stood  by  itself  it  might  have  been 
attributed  to  the  ignorance  or  arrogance  of  a  single  officer. 
Unfortunately  it  was  not  an  isolated  case.  A  series  of 
incidents  have  recently  occurred  which  cannot  but  create 
the  impression  that  representatives  of  General  Huerta 
were  willing  to  go  out  of  their  way  to  show  disregard 
for  the  dignity  and  rights  of  this  government,  and  felt 
perfectly  safe  in  doing  what  they  pleased,  making  free  to 
show  in  many  ways  their  irritation  and  contempt. 

"A  few  days  after  the  incident  at  Tampico  an  orderly 
from  the  United  States  ship  Minnesota  was  arrested  in 
Vera  Cruz  while  ashore  in  uniform  to  obtain  the  ship's 
mail  and  was  for  a  time  thrown  in  jail. 

"An  official  dispatch  from  this  government  to  its  em- 
bassy in  Mexico  City  was  withheld  by  the  authorities  of 
the  telegraphic  service  until  peremptorily  demanded  by 
our  Charge  d'Affaires  in  person. 

"So  far  as  I  can  learn  such  wrongs  and  annoyances 
have  been  suffered  to  occur  only  against  representatives 
of  the  United  States.  I  have  heard  of  no  complaints  from 
any  other  government  of  similar  treatment. 

"Subsequent  explanation  and  formal  apologies  did  not 
and  could  not  alter  the  popular  impression  which  it  is 
possible  it  had  been  the  object  of  the  Huertista  authorities 
to  create,  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  was 
being  singled  out  and  might  be  singled  out  with  impunity, 
for  slights  and  affronts  in  retaliation  for  its  refusal  to 
recognize  the  pretensions  of  General  Huerta  to  be  re- 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  121 

garded  as  Constitutional  President  of  the  Republic  of 
Mexico. 

"The  manifest  danger  of  such  a  situation  was  that  such 
offenses  might  grow  from  bad  to  worse  until  something 
happened  of  so  gross  and  intolerable  a  sort,  as  to  lead 
directly  and  inevitably  to  armed  conflict. 

"It  was  necessary  that  the  apologies  of  General  Huerta 
and  his  representatives  should  go  much  further,  that  they 
should  be  such  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  whole 
population  to  their  significance,  and  such  as  to  impress 
upon  General  Huerta  himself  the  necessity  of  seeing  to 
it  that  no  further  occasion  for  explanations  and  professed 
regrets  should  arise. 

"I  therefore  felt  it  my  duty  to  sustain  Admiral  Mayo 
in  the  whole  of  his  demand,  and  insist  that  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  should  be  saluted  in  such  a  way  as  to  indi- 
cate a  new  spirit  and  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Huert- 
istas. 

"Such  a  salute  General  Huerta  has  refused  and  I  have 
come  to  ask  your  approval  and  support  in  the  course  I 
now  propose  to  pursue. 

"This  government  can,  I  earnestly  hope,  in  no  circum- 
stances be  forced  into  war  with  the  people  of  Mexico. 
Mexico  is  torn  by  civil  strife.  If  we  are  to  accept  the 
tests  of  its  own  constitution  it  has  no  government.  Gen- 
eral Huerta  has  set  his  power  up  in  Mexico  City,  such  as 
it  is,  without  right  and  by  methods  for  which  there  can 
be  no  justification.  Only  a  part  of  the  country  is  under 
his  control.  If  an  armed  conflict  should  unhappily  come 
as  a  result  of  his  attitude  of  personal  resentment  toward 
this  government  we  should  be  fighting  only  General 
Huerta  and  those  who  adhere  to  him  and  give  him  their 
support,  and  our  object  would  be  only  to  restore  to  the 


122  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

people  of  the  distracted  republic  the  right  to  set  up  again 
their  own  laws  and  their  own  government. 

"But  I  earnestly  hope  war  is  not  now  in  question.  I 
believe  I  speak  for  the  American  people  when  I  say  that 
we  do  not  desire  to  control  in  any  degree  the  affairs  of 
our  sister  republic.  *Our  feeling  for  the  people  of  Mexico 
is  one  of  deep  and  genuine  friendship  and  everything  that 
we  have  done  so  far  or  refrained  from  doing  has  pro- 
ceeded from  our  desire  to  help  them,  and  not  to  hinder 
or  embrarrass  them. 

"We  would  not  wish  even  to  exercise  our  offices  of 
friendship  without  their  welcome  and  consent.  The  peo- 
ple of  Mexico  are  entitled  to  settle  their  own  domestic 
affairs  in  their  own  way  and  we  sincerely  desire  to  re- 
spect their  right.  The  present  situation  need  have  none 
of  the  grave  implications  of  interferences,  if  we  deal  with 
it  promptly,  firmly  and  wisely. 

"No  doubt  I  could  do  what  is  necessary  in  the  circum- 
stances to  enforce  respect  for  our  government,  without 
recourse  to  Congress  and  yet  not  exceed  my  constitu- 
tional powers  as  President ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  act,  in 
a  matter  possibly  of  so  grave  consequence,  except  in  close 
conference  and  co-operation  with  both  Senate  and  House. 

"I  therefore  come  to  ask  your  approval  that  I  should 
use  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States  in  such  ways 
and  to  such  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  obtain  from 
General  Huerta  and  his  adherents  the  fullest  recognition 
of  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the  United  States,  even  amidst 
the  distressing  conditions  now  unhappily  obtaining  in 
Mexico. 

"There  can,  in  what  we  do,  be  no  thought  of  aggres- 
sion or  of  selfish  aggrandizement.  We  seek  to  maintain 


*Mr.   Wilson's   feelings  were   apparently  not  affected  by  the 
outrages  listed  on  pages  101  to  107. 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  123 

the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  United  States  only  be- 
cause we  wish  to  keep  our  great  influence  unimpaired  for 
the  uses  of  liberty,  both  in  the  United  States  and  wher- 
ever else  it  may  be  employed  for  the  benefit  of  mankind." 

The  precise  programme  is  not  indicated  in  Mr.  Wilson's 
speech.  His  actions  indicate  factional  coalition  with  the 
bandit  Villa  against  General  Huerta.  General  Huerta's 
ambassadors  were  at  foreign  courts  and  were  recognized, 
and  his  minister  was  at  Washington.  Mr.  O'Shaughnessy 
was  at  Mexico  City  dealing  with  the  Mexican  government 
through  General  Huerta.  Villa  and  his  Revolutionists  had 
no  recognized  representatives  abroad. 

General  Huerta,  the  strongest  man  in  Mexico  since 
Porfirio  Diaz,  did  his  best  to  protect  foreign  interests 
up  to  the  landing  of  United  States  marines  at  Vera  Cruz. 
Villa  and  Carranza,  on  the  contrary,  were  parties  to  the 
murder  of  Benton,  and  the  unsatisfactory  attitude  of  these 
men  during  the  international  inquiry,  coupled  with  Car- 
ranza's  reply  to  the  United  States,  plainly  stating  that  he 
did  not  recognize  the  right  of  its  State  Department  to  in- 
quire into  the  matter  of  the  death  of  a  British  subject. 

The  day  following  Mr.  Wilson's  speech  to  Congress, 
the  United  States  Admiral  (Fletcher)  landed  marines  at 
Vera  Cruz,  the  time  limit  for  the  salute  which  was  not 
fired  having  expired.  The  landing  resulted  in  four  United 
States  sailors  being  killed  and  twelve  wounded,  and  dur- 
ing the  ensuing  week  the  number  increased  to  eighteen 
killed  and  seventy-three  wounded.  Some  two  hundred 
Mexicans  were  killed  and  wounded  during  this  period  by 
United  States  marines. 

General  Huerta  then  recalled  his  minister  from  Wash- 
ington and  handed  the  United  States  Charge  d'Affaires 
his  passports  and  the  following  letter : 


124  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

"Mexico,  April  22,  1914. 
"Mr.  Charge  d' Affaires: 

"Assuredly  your  honor  knows  that  the  marines  of  the 
American  ships  of  war  anchored  off  the  port  of  Vera 
Cruz,  availing  themselves  of  the  circumstance  that  the 
Mexican  authorities  had  given  them  access  to  the  harbor 
and  the  town  because  they  considered  their  presence  was 
of  a  friendly  character,  disembarked  yesterday  with  their 
arms  and  uniforms  and  possessed  themselves  by  surprise 
of  the  principal  public  buildings  without  giving  time  for 
the  women  and  children  in  the  streets,  the  sick  and  other 
non-combatants  to  place  themselves  in  safety. 

"This  act  was  contrary  to  international  usages.  If 
these  usages  do  not  demand,  as  held  by  many  states,  a 
previous  declaration  of  war,  they  impose  at  least  the  duty 
of  not  violating  humane  consideration  or  good  faith  by 
people  whom  the  country  which  they  are  in  has  received 
as  friends,  and  who  therefore  should  not  take  advantage 
of  that  circumstance  to  commit  hostile  acts. 

"These  acts  of  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States 
I  do  not  care  to  qualify  in  this  note,  out  of  deference  to 
•the  fact  that  your  honor  personally  has  observed  toward 
the  Mexican  government  and  people  a  most  strictly  cor- 
rect conduct,  as  far  as  that  has  been  possible  to  you  in 
your  character  as  the  representative  of  a  government  with 
which  we  have  been  in  such  serious  difficulties  as  these 
existing. 

"Regarding  the  initiation  of  war  against  Mexico,  this 
ministry  reserves  to  itself  the  right  of  presenting  to  other 
powers  the  events  and  considerations  pertinent  to  this 
matter,  in  order  that  they,  as  members  of  the  concert  of 
nations,  may  judge  of  the  conduct  of  the  two  nations,  and 
adopt  an  attitude  which  they  may  deem  proper  in  view 
of  this  deplorable  outrage  upon  our  nation's  sovereignty. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  125 

"The  President  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico  has  seen  fit 
to  terminate,  as  I  have  the  honor  to  communicate  to  your 
honor,  the  diplomatic  mission  which  your  honor  has  until 
now  discharged.  You  will  have  the  goodness  to  retire 
from  Mexican  territory.  To  that  end  /  enclose  your  pass- 
port, at  the  same  time  informing  you  that,  as  is  the  diplo- 
matic custom  on  such  occasions,  a  special  train  will  be  at 
your  disposal  with  a  guard  sufficient  to  protect  your 
honor,  your  family  and  your  staff,  although  the  Mexican 
people  are  sufficiently  civilized  to  respect,  even  without 
this  protection,  your  honor  and  those  accompanying  you. 

"I  take  this  opportunity  to  reiterate  to  your  honor  the 
assurances  of  my  highest  consideration. 

(Signed)     "Jose  Lopez  Portillo  Rojas." 
(Huerta's  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs.) 


126  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  XV. 

After  the  murder  and  violation  of  one  hundred  "Amer- 
icans" by  various  Mexican  Insurrectionists  during  the 
past  four  years,  Mr.  Wilson  is  alleged  to  have  said  to  the 
newspaper  men  at  Washington : 

"I  want  to  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  do  not  get  the  impres- 
sion that  there  is  about  to  be  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico.  That  is  not  the  outlook  at  present, 
at  all.  In  the  first  place,  in  no  conceivable  circumstances 
will  we  fight  the  people  of  Mexico." 

To  discipline  General  Huerta  personally  for  the  mur- 
derous acts  of  the  Mexican  people,  would  not  in  any  way 
correct  the  decadent  state  of  that  country,  neither  would 
it  drown  the  fires  of  insurrection  or  the  political  chaos 
which  must  and  will  continue,  until  a  superior  force  com- 
pels all  Mexicans  to  realize  their  international  responsi- 
bilities. Neither  Carranza  nor  Villa  nor  Zapata  nor 
Orozco  or  the  whole  bandit  quartette  acting  in  concert 
could  ever  maintain  peace  in  Mexico  for  two  continuous 
years.  Other  aspirants  for  the  Presidency  would  "bob 
up"  and  with  as  much  right  as  any  of  these  and  with  as 
great  financial  support. 

Carranza  and  Villa  have  quite  as  many  enemies  as  has 
General  Huerta.  Elevate  either  of  them  and  give  them 
the  power  and  resources  of  Huerta,  and  exactly  the  same 
revolutionary  condition  would  exist  as  exists  today,  ex- 
cept that  the  name  of  Carranza  or  Villa  would  be  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  Huerta. 

The  antecedents  of  General  Villa  as  hereafter  shown, 
should  disqualify  him  and  his  irresponsible  superiors  and 


127 

subordinates  from  any  consideration  whatsoever  by  the 
State  Department  of  the  United  States  on  the  same 
grounds  that  Mr.  Wilson  has  disqualified  General  Huerta. 
Mr.  Carruthers,  the  United  States  emissary,  has  been 
constantly  in  conference  with  Villa,  to  the  end  that  his  in- 
surgent forces  should  join  the  United  States  forces,  or  re- 
main neutral  in  the  endeavor  of  the  United  States  to  oust 
General  Huerta  from  the  Presidency.  The  personal  ele- 
ment entering  into  the  question  of  the  endeavor  of  the 
State  Department  of  the  United  States  to  achieve  Gen- 
eral Huerta's  resignation,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  coali- 
tion with  this  murderous  bandit  brute,  seems  amazingly 
inexplicable. 

The  dignity  of  the  United  States  Military  and  Naval 
Departments  has  been  flouted  by  the  State  Department  in 
its  request  for  Villa's  support  of  neutrality,  and  the  sub- 
sequent refusal  of  General  Carranza  (Villa's  insurgent 
partner)  to  coalesce,  to  remain  neutral  or  to  cease  fighting 
in  northern  Mexico,  pending  the  solicited  mediation  of 
the  A.  B.  C.  arbitrators,  throws  a  spotlight  on  the  com- 
bined frailty  and  timidity  of  the  administration. 

Senator  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  read  the  following  to 
the  United  States  Senate  on  May  5th,  1914,  relative  to 
"General"  Villa : 

"Born  at  Las  Niegres,  Durango,  1868.  When  14  he 
was  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  cattle  stealing.  On 
his  discharge,  settled  in  a  mining  camp  at  Guanacevi, 
where  a  few  months  later  he  underwent  imprisonment  for 
homicide.  Upon  his  second  release  from  prison  he  organ- 
ized a  band  of  robbers  with  headquarters  in  the  moun- 
tainous region  of  'Perico'  in  Durango. 

"In  1907  he  was  in  partnership  with  one  Francisco 
Reza  stealing  cattle  in  Chihuahua  and  selling  them  in  the 


128  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

United  States,  and  stealing  mules  and  horses  in  the  United 
States  and  selling  them  in  Chihuahua. 

"He  killed  Reza  while  sitting  in  the  plaza  in  the  City 
of  Chihuahua.  In  early  November,  1910,  he  attacked  the 
factory  of  Mr.  Sono  in  Aliende  and  killed  him.  By  threat- 
ening the  daughter  he  obtained  $11,000.  He  joined  the 
Madero  revolution  in  January,  1911,  at  Casa  Grand,  he 
killed  Carlos  Alatorre  and  Louis  Ortiz  for  refusing  to 
pay  the  ransom  money  demanded. 

"In  February  of  the  same  year  at  Batopilas,  he  tor- 
tured Senora  Marie  de  la  Luz  Gomez. 

"When  Ciudad  Juarez  was  taken  in  May,  1911,  he  kill- 
ed Ignacio  Gomez  Oyola,  an  aged  and  infirm  man  of  60, 
because  he  denied  that  he  had  arms  concealed  on  his 
premises. 

"Early  in  May,  1913,  Villa  with  seventy-five  men  at- 
tacked a  bullion  train  in  Chihuahua,  killing  the  crew  and 
several  passengers,  including  Senor  Caravante  and  Senor 
Isaac  Herrerro  of  Ciudad  Guicerro.  In  the  same  month, 
but  later,  at  San  Andres  he  assaulted  the  house  of  Sabas 
Murga.  Two  nephews  of  this  man  were  killed,  but  Murga 
escaped.  Sons-in-law  of  Murga,  who  had  not  taken  a  part 
in  the  fight,  were  captured,  tortured  and  then  killed. 

"That  month  Villa's  band  took  the  town  of  Saint  Ros- 
alia, shooting  all  prisoners  and  treating  the  principal  of- 
ficers with  terrible  cruelty.  Business  houses  were  sacked, 
and  many  private  persons  were  murdered,  the  worst  case 
being  that  of  Senor  Montilla,  cashier  of  a  bank.  He  was 
shot,  over  the  head  of  his  wife,  who  was  attempting  to 
defend  him.  Villa  kicked  the  wife  in  the  face  as  she  lay 
over  the  dead  body  of  her  husband.  He  killed  Senor 
Ramos,  secretary  of  the  Court  of  First  Instance  of  Santa 
Rosalia,  arrested  twenty  of  the  principal  people  and  ter- 
rorized them  until  he  obtained  70,000  pesos. 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  129 

"In  July,  1913,  Villa  took  Casas  Grandes  and  shot  more 
than  eighty  non-combatants,  violating  several  young  girls, 
among  them  two  young  ladies  named  Castillo. 

"In  September,  1913,  he  took  the  town  of  San  Andres, 
shooting  many  peaceable  residents  and  more  than  150 
prisoners,  many  of  these  being  women  and  children. 

"In  order  to  conserve  his  ammunition,  Villa  ordered 
these  victims  to  stand  four  deep,  one  behind  the  other,  so 
that  the  same  bullet  would  do  the  work  for  four.  Few  of 
these  victims  were  killed  outright.  The  dead  and  wound- 
ed were  soaked  in  petroleum  and  together  thrown  into  a 
bonfire. 

"Following  this  he  took  a  small  town,  Carretas,  where 
he  found  an  old  man  of  70,  Jose  Moreno,  from  whom  he 
demanded  $200.  He  couldn't  pay  and  Villa  killed  the  man 
with  his  own  hand. 

"September  29,  1913,  having  overpowered  a  force  of 
500  Federals  near  Torreon,  Villa  had  every  prisoner  shot. 
Toward  the  end  of  November  he  took  Juarez.  Nearly  all 
the  Federal  officers  were  shot  as  well  as  some  sixty  odd 
non-combatants. 

"December  8,  1913,  Villa  captured  Chihuahua  and 
seized  all  the  commercial  houses  of  Spaniards  and  Mexi- 
cans. He  expelled  all  the  Spaniards.  Two  Spaniards  were 
beaten  to  death. 

"Villa  took  prisoner  two  children  of  14  years,  called 
Lorenzo  Arellano  and  Alfonso  Moliner.  Private  houses 
and  motor  cars  were  seized  and  turned  over  to  public 
women  for  their  nightly  orgies. 

"In  Chihuahua  Villa  had  shot  150  non-combatants. 
Ignacio  Irigoyan  and  Jose  A.  Yanez,  not  connected  in 
any  way  with  the  political  situation,  were  tortured  fright- 
fully and  finally  paid  $20,000  each  for  their  ransom.  Villa 


130  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

then  gave  them  a  safe  conduct  and  permitted  them  to 
start  for  the  United  States.  They  were  pursued  by  Villa's 
men,  taken  from  the  train  and  shot. 

"The  Benton  murder  at  Juarez  in  which  Villa  figured, 
is  of  recent  memory." 

The  "holdup"  of  the  Terrasas  family  for  $500,000  un- 
der the  threat  of  putting  to  death  one  of  the  sons  then  a 
prisoner  in  Villa's  hands,  was  an  act  of  brigandage  un- 
equalled at  any  time  in  Italy  or  Spain. 

Mr.  H.  B.  Guthrey,  field  superintendent  of  the  Pear- 
son Oil  Syndicate  of  Tampico,  gave  the  following  inter- 
view to  the  Los  Angeles  Examiner  on  May  5th,  1914: 

"Tampico  today  is  a  city  of  pestilence.  Dead  bodies 
lie  in  the  streets.  Three  and  a  half  tons  of  silver  ($420,- 
000  gold  value)  lie  in  the  banks,  unless  Mexicans  have 
already  secured  this. 

"As  for  the  oil  companies,  they  are  in  constant  fear 
that  the  Rebels  will  blow  up  the  wells  outside  the  city.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  Royal  Dutch  Company 
(English  and  Dutch)  has  a  well  which  gives  100,000  bar- 
rels of  oil  a  day.  Once  the  cap  is  dynamited  from  this 
well  there  would  simply  be  a  wasted  and  ever  increasing 
lake  of  oil.  We  have  a  well,  the  Potrero  del  Llano,  which 
gives  110,000  barrels  a  day,  and  it  is  quite  unprotected. 

"I  came  up  on  the  'Connecticut'  with  470  refugees.  We 
took  three  prisoners  from  the  jail  with  us  and  a  baby  was 
born  on  the  way  to  Galveston.  The  Government  gave  us 
transportation  wherever  we  wanted  to  go. 

"President  Wilson  may  be  said  to  have  joined  the 
Rebels.  Uncle  Sam  should  have  stepped  right  in  after  the 
first  insult  and  beat  the  tar  out  of  the  Mexicans.  That  is 
the  only  and  possible  course.  About  $900,000,000  in 
American  capital  is  invested  in  Mexico  and  we  cannot  go 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  131 

back  and  resume  business  until  the  country  is  protected 
properly." 

Looking  at  the  situation  from  any  angle :  The  adminis- 
tration's policy  of  "watching  and  waiting"  is  not  conduc- 
ive to  patriotic  pride,  whatever  it  may  be  in  the  conserva- 
tion of  its  treasure  or  lives  of  its  soldiers  at  the  sacrifice 
of  its  dignity  among  nations.  Why?  Because  there  was 
relief,  if  unpreparedness  was  the  cause  of  moral  instead 
of  armed  intervention,  in  the  scheme  of  allied  interven- 
tion, or  peaceful  blockade. 

The  contradictory  situation  extant,  primarily  created 
by  Mr.  Taft  in  readily  recognizing  one  idealist  (Presi- 
dent Madero)  in  view  of  the  Chinese  atrocities  at  Torreon, 
and  the  non-recognition  of  General  Huerta  by  another 
idealist  on  the  grounds  that  the  assassination  of  President 
Madero  and  Pino  Suarez  was  instigated  by  General 
Huerta,  again  establishes  a  paradoxical  condition  in  the 
vacillating  foreign  policy  of  the  United  States.  Both 
policies  were  academic,  but  they  were  contradictory. 

E.  L.  Doheny  of  the  Mexican  Petroleum  Company  said 
on  the  29th  of  April :  "Those  men,  women  and  children 
in  and  near  Tampico  were  left  to  shift  for  themselves, 
among  an  angry  mob  of  American-haters,  who  were 
worked  up  to  a  frenzy  by  a  combination  of  villainous 
liquors  and  incendiary  speeches  furnished  and  delivered 
to  them  by  influential  members  of  the  community,  so  far 
as  help  from  American  warships  and  the  American  flag 
were  concerned,  even  admitting  that  dilatory  efforts  were 
made  to  rescue  these  poor,  abandoned  Americans  by  re- 
questing the  soldiers  and  flags  of  other  nations  to  furnish 
that  security  which  they  had  a  right  to  expect  from  their 
own  government." 


132 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  a  resolution  adopted  by 
the  American  refugees  upon  landing  at  Galveston,  Texas, 
and  sent  to  United  States  Senators  in  Washington : 

"WE,  AMERICAN  CITIZENS,  RESIDING  IN  MEXICO,  who 
have  just  been  driven  from  our  homes  at  Tampico  by  a 
savage  mob,  wish  to  protest  against,  and  give  wide  public- 
ity to,  the  timid  and  unpatriotic  action  of  the  United 
States  government,  in  withdrawing  our  warships  from 
the  harbor  at  Tampico  at  the  moment  when  the  lives  of 
2000  American  women,  children  and  unarmed  men  were 
utterly  at  the  mercy  of  the  Mexican  mob,  which,  crazed 
by  rum  and  patriotism,  inspired  by  incendiary  and  anti- 
American  proclamations  and  speeches,  were  preparing  to 
attack,  and  did  attack,  American  citizens  who  had  placed 
their  helpless  women  and  children  in  the  building  of  the 
Southern  Hotel,  under  the  protection  of  those  few  of  us 
who  had  not  yet  been  disarmed  by  the  Mexican  author- 
ities. 

"We  wish  the  American  people  to  know  that  we  owe 
our  lives  solely  to  the  prompt  and  decisive  action  of  the 
commander  of  the  German  gunboat  Dresden,  who,  at  this 
crucial  moment,  threatened  the  Mexican  authorities  with 
drastic  and  punitive  measures,  and  thus  rescued  us  under 
the  German  flag,  delivering  us  on  board  our  United  States 
warships,  in  the  open  seas.  We  owe  our  lives  today  to  the 
brave  Germans,  with  their  one  small  boat,  and  not  in  any 
way  to  the  action  of  our  own  government.  We  further- 
more protest  against  the  present  non-protection  by  our 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  133 

own  government  of  the  millions  of  dollars  worth  of 
American  property  in  and  near  Tampico." 

In  other  issues  of  even  more  serious  import,  it  is  ques- 
tionable how  efficiently  affairs  of  state  have  been  negoti- 
ated, especially  those  embracing  the  vital  and  delicate 
situation  involving  this  country  with  Japan,  and  those 
European  powers  having  treaties  with  Japan. 

The  incidents  involving  the  United  States  are: 

First :  In  the  case  of  Mexico,  the  non-recognition  of 
General  Huerta  as  President  of  that  Republic  by  President 
Wilson  and  the  result;  the  refusal  of  the  United  States 
Government  to  specifically  intervene  for  the  protection  of 
foreign  interests  during  the  four  years  of  civil  war  in 
Mexico. 

Second :  In  the  case  of  Japan.  The  diplomatic  cause 
of  irritation,  arising  from  the  elimination  of  Russia  and 
China  from  the  Pacific  and  Japan's  consequent  increased 
development  as  a  Pacific  power,  as  against  United  States 
Pacific  expansion ;  the  destruction  of  the  Hawaiian  mon- 
archy and  the  annexation  and  fortification  of  those  islands 
by  the  United  States. 

(2)  "While  the  establishment  of  United  States  naval 
and  military  bases  is  in  progress  in  the  Pacific,  Japan  has 
prepared  for  it  in  so  effective  a  manner  that  notwith- 
standing what  the  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  may 
be  in  the  future,  the  Hawaiian  Islands  can  be  seized  from 
within  and  converted  into  a  Japanese  naval  and  military 
base  so  quickly,  that  they  will  be  impregnable  to  the  power 
of  this  Republic."* 

(3)  "The  Japanese  military  unfit  have  been  with- 
drawn from  the  population  of  the  islands,  and  methodic- 
ally supplanted  by  the  veterans  of  the  Japanese-Chinese 


*"Valor  of  Ignorance,"  by  Homer  Lea. 


134  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

and  the  Russo-Japanese  wars,  and  the  Japanese  military 
occupation  of  Hawaii  is  tentatively  accomplished." 

(4)  It  may  be  roughly  stated  that  the  population  of 
these  islands  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  hundred  and 
ninety  thousand,  of  which  seventy-nine  thousand  are  Jap- 
nese,  and  are  guarded  by  less  in  numbers,  than  a  full 
regiment  of  United  States  troops. 

(5)  The  influx  of  Japanese  into  Hawaii  has  been 
entirely  political  and  the  outcome  will  be  military. 

Third:  The  further  cause  for  Japanese  discontent  is 
the  anti-alien  ruling  and  educational  question  by  the  State 
of  California. 

Fourth :  The  objection  of  the  United  States  to  the  con- 
cession of  Magdalena  Bay  (Mexico)  to  Japanese  inter- 
ests. 

Any  of  these  questions  may,  within  a  short  period  of 
time,  result  in  "serious  misunderstandings." 

Those  responsible  for  the  country's  foreign  policy  have 
not  settled  these  pending  questions  and  procrastination 
in  favor  of  internal  politics  is  diplomatically  suicidal. 

The  progress  of  commerce,  industry  and  land  values, 
has  produced  a  distinct  class  which  no  longer  finds  its 
intelligence  represented  in  Congress. 

This  class  or  better  element  rarely  exercises  the  fran- 
chise, or  cares  for  political  gifts  from  the  party  in  power. 

George  II.  said  to  Pitt : 

"You  have  taught  me  to  look  for  the  voice  of  the 
people  in  other  places  than  in  the  House  of  Commons." 

How  surely  does  this  apply  to  the  administration  of 
today. 

The  general  opulence  of  the  country  has  brought  about 
the  building  of  a  wall  around  it  composed  of  self  super- 
iority and  arrogance.  This  is  regarded  in  pride  by  a 


AT   THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  135 

majority  of  the  people,  and  thought  to  be  impenetrable 
against  attack,  due  to  the  reliance  on  the  vast  natural  re- 
sources contained  therein. 

For  years  it  has  been  the  hysterical  boast  and  actual 
popular  belief,  that  not  only  could  the  country  defend 
itself  against  foreign  invasion,  but  could  even  conquer  a 
first  class  foreign  power. 

This  conceit  is  concrete  in  the  Congress  (as  developed 
in  Mr.  Clark's  speech)  and  out  of  it.  For  years  the  policy 
has  been  one  of  military  neglect. 

It  seems  to  be  forgotten  that  there  exists  an  East  and 
West  monarchical  frontier  to  the  North  extending  over 
three  thousand  miles  in  length  and  the  whole  of  Latin 
America  extending  from  the  Rio  Grande  (the  Southern 
frontier)  to  Patagonia,  surging  with  dislike  and  contempt 
for  "Americans."  The  extreme  western  outlying  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  is  at  the  door  of  Japan,  and  is 
today  absolutely  at  the  disposal  of  that  nation,  while  the 
time  consumed  in  crossing  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  has 
been  reduced  to  hours  and  days. 

The  wall  has  a  breach  in  it,  to  say  very  little  of  the 
breach  in  the  inner  wall,  viz :  the  practically  undefended 
Pacific  Coast. 

It  seems  to  be  forgotten  that  the  forty-eight  sovereign 
States  with  their  consolidated  thriving  populaion,  more 
than  twice  that  of  Great  Britain  or  three-tenths  greater 
than  that  of  the  German  Empire,  must  through  the  Fed- 
eral government  enter  the  field  of  international  politics 
to  assert  its  power,  whether  it  wishes  to  do  so  or  not,  or 
be  subject  to  humiliation  in  view  of  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
expansion. 

The  position  taken  by  administration  after  administra- 
tion in  relation  to  the  "Monroe  Doctrine,"  not  only  makes 


136  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

this  imperative,  but  it  demands  an  immediate  military 
power  equal  to  the  pretentions  under  which  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  can  alone  be  sustained  against  the  first  serious 
foreign  protest  or  aggression. 

Doubtless  Mr.  Bryce,  the  former  British  ambassador  to 
the  United  States,  was  cognizant  of  these  and  other  facts 
when  he  said  in  his  speech  at  Stanford  University,  "The 
world  is  still  watching  the  experiment  of  the  republican 
form  of  government  in  the  United  States." 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  137 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

It  has  been  notorious  that  necessary  funds  requisitioned 
by  the  Chief  of  Staff  for  the  legitimate  purposes  of  mili- 
tary maintenance  and  equipment,  have  on  more  than  one 
occasion  been  materially  reduced  by  Congress. 

Per  contra,  Congress  after  Congress  has  entertained 
and  passed  appropriations  for  pension  funds  for  "veter- 
ans" of  the  Spanish  War  to  the  extent  of  nearly  fifty 
thousand  applications  whereas  only  thirty-eight  thousand 
soldiers  of  all  arms  (regular  and  volunteer)  landed  on 
Spanish  territory  during  activities.  It  is  safe  and  fair  to 
say  that  many  are  drawing  pensions  today,  who  never 
saw  the  islands  of  Cuba,  Puerto  Rico  or  the  Philippines. 

It  is  much  the  same  with  the  other  pension  fund,  the 
legacy  of  the  Civil  War.  Instead  of  the  amount  of  the 
annual  distribution  consistently  decreasing  by  reason  of 
the  deaths  of  the  beneficiaries,  it  inconsistently  increases 
with  the  death  roll  until  the  annual  distribution  alone 
would  go  far  to  liquidate  the  national  debt  of  most  coun- 
tries. This  inconsistency,  after  fifty  years,  is  brought 
about  by  the  payment  in  full  of  the  back  pension  from  the 
date  of  claim,  without  regard  to  disability,  and  to  the 
widows  of  ex-soldiers,  irrespective  of  the  date  of  the 
marriage ;  for  instance :  An  ex-soldier  drawing  a  pension 
and  79  years  of  age  may  contract  marriage  with  a  young 
woman.  On  his  death  the  wife  is  entitled  to  draw  his 
pension  for  the  term  of  her  life,  which  taken  at  this  date 
may  be  another  fifty  years,  so  the  pensioner  or  his  heir 
is  eligible  to  draw  what  is  equivalent  to  nearly  one  hun- 
dred years  of  pension  for,  in  instances,  a  service  of  sixty 
days  only.  Certainly  a  noble  gratuity  from  a  grateful 


138  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

republic  so  far  as  money  is  concerned  and  paradoxical 
when  compared  with  the  treatment  of  Schley  by  the  gov- 
ernment then  in  power,  which  was  paradoxical  when  the 
attitude  of  the  people  towards  him  was  that  of  gratitude 
and  praise. 

This  pension  is  largely  absorbed  by  those  who  partici- 
pated in  the  Civil  War  of  1861  to  1865.  That  is  to  say : 
the  Federal,  or  ex-soldiers  of  the  United  States  alone  and 
their  heirs,  are  beneficiaries.  The  ex-Confederate  soldier 
or  Southern  participant  is  ineligible  to  benefit  from  this 
enormous  appropriation,  although  he  and  the  whole  South 
is  a  compulsory  and  heavy  contributor  to  the  fund. 

There  are  many  dissatisfied  persons  in  the  Southern 
States  of  the  United  States  today,  and  it  does  appear  in- 
consistent that  the  population  of  the  Southern  tier  of 
States,  fifty  years  after  the  war  and  for  another  fifty  or 
more  years  to  come  shall  pay  an  ever  increasing  indemnity 
to  their  conquerors,  when  the  conquered  are  re-established 
in  citizenship  and  live  under  the  same  flag. 

Indicative  of  the  Southern  feeling  in  this  respect,  the 
following  is  told: 

Not  long  since,  two  old  soldiers,  an  ex-Federal  and  an 
ex-Confederate,  were  chumming  together  in  the  bar  of 
the  Kimball  House,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

"Ah,  Johnnie!"  remarked  the  northern  man,  "we  cer- 
tainly licked  creation  out  of  you." 

"Yes!  maybe  yer  did,"  replied  the  southerner  a  trifle 
sourly;  "but  jedging  from  the  size  of  yer  pension  fund, 
I  reckon  we  wounded  every  *damnedyankee  that  es- 
caped." 


*A  Southern  lady  (a  descendant  of  John  C.  Calhoun),  of 
Montgomery,  Alabama,  told  the  writer  some  years  ago,  that 
she  was  twenty  before  she  knew  that  "damnedyankee"  was  not 
one  word. 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  139 

The  increase  of  the  pension  fund  is  shown  as  follows : 

War  with  Spain — Beneficiaries,  29,015. 

War  of  1812— Widows,  199. 

War  with  Mexico — Survivors,  1,142;  Widoivs,  5,123. 

Indian  Wars — Survivors,  1,066;  Widows,  2,330. 

Total  pensioners  on  roll  June  30,  1913,  820,200. 

TOTAL  DISBURSEMENTS  FOR  PENSIONS  FOR  ALL  WARS  : 

War  of  the  Revolution  (estimate),  $70,000,000; 

War  of  1812  (service  pension),  $45,923,014.46; 

Indian  wars  (service  pension),  $12,241,273.61; 

War  with  Mexico  (service  pension),  $47,232,572.34; 

Civil  War,  $4,294,596,944.47  (1861  to  1865); 

War   with   Spain  and   insurrection  in  the   Philippine 
Islands,  $42,185,230.84; 

Regular  establishment,  $28,461,369.52; 

Unclassified,  $16,499,419.44.  (to  1913). 

Total  disbursements  for  war  pensions,  $4,557,539,824.68. 

In  1867  there  were  36,482  new  claims  allowed,  bring- 
ing the  total  beneficiaries  to  155,474,  as  to  69,565  men 
and  83,618  widows,  making  the  annual  distribution  $20, 
784,789.69. 

In  1877  the  beneficiaries  were  232,104  as  to  128,723 
men  and  103,381  widows  and  the  annual  distribution  $28,- 
182,821.72. 

In  1887  the  beneficiaries  were  406,007,  as  to  306,298 
men  and  99,709  widows,  and  the  annual  distribution  $73,- 
572,997.08. 

In  1897  there  were  976,014  beneficiaries  as  to  746,829 
men  and  229,185  widows,  and  the  annual  distribution 
$139,949,717.35. 

In  1907  there  were  967,371  beneficiaries  as  to  680,934 
men  and  286,437  widows,  and  the  annual  distribution  was 
$138,155,412.46. 


140  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

In  1912  there  were  860,294  beneficiaries  as  to  538,294 
men  and  322,000  widows,  and  the  annual  distribution  was 
$152,986,433.72. 

In  1913  there  were  820,200  beneficiaries  as  to  503,633 
men  and  316,567  widows  with  the  annual  disbursement 
of  $174,171,600.00  paid  in  war  pensions  and  $2,543,246.39 
for  that  year's  administration  of  it,  or  a  grand  total,  in- 
cluding the  cost  of  administration,  paid  in  pensions  of 
$4,461,097,319.65. 

Total  number  of  original  applications  during  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1913,  27,881. 

Total  number  of  original  claims  allowed  for  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1913,  19,346. 

A  financial  policy  that  permits  this  annual  increase  is 
beyond  conception,  when  the  majority  of  the  northern 
participants  in  the  Civil  War  are  dead  and  the  youngest 
living  ex-northern  soldier  is  over  65  and  very  few  under 
72.  It  is  even  more  extraordinary  when  that  policy  re- 
fuses to  provide,  in  advance,  adequate  funds  to  be  espec- 
ially allocated  for  preparedness  in  war,  or  to  not  grant 
without  quibble  the  financial  requisitions  made  by  trained, 
efficient  and  permanent  United  States  officers  of  the  War 
Department  who  know  the  necessities.  Such  a  policy  is 
preposterous  in  the  face  of  conditions  pertaining  to  for- 
eign relations. 

That  the  War  Department  has  been  unable  to  obtain 
adequate  funds  from  Congress  for  its  efficient  mainten- 
ance, or  funds  to  procure  reserves  of  ammunition,  war 
material,  equipment  and  general  military  efficiency  of  the 
male  population  in  advance  of  actual  necessity,  is  to  be 
accounted  for  by  absolute  neglect  by  that  body  to  pay 
attention  to  a  paramount  demand.  The  comment  on  this 
question  must  not  be  taken  as  an  objection  to  pensions  for 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  141 

veterans.  It  is  to  show  the  inconsistency  in  the  growth  of 
the  fund  as  compared  with  the  decrease  of  beneficiaries. 
Without  the  former  the  income  tax  would  be  unneces- 
sary. The  great  excess  in  pensions  has  grown  up  under 
the  struggle  of  both  parties  to  control  the  soldier  vote. 
The  pension  money  was  raised  by  indirect  taxation  which 
was  not  felt  by  any  particular  interest.  With  the  income 
tax  swallowed  up  by  the  pensions  the  income  taxpayer  is 
sure  to  develop  an  active  opposition  to  further  pension 
legislation. 

The  colossal  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  Federal  and 
States  governments  collectively,  when  computed  as  a 
whole,  is  far  in  excess  of  that  of  any  form  of  monarchical 
government  existing,  and  yet  without  an  army  of  defense 
or  offense. 


142  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
JAPAN. 

In  1906  the  Governor  of  California  said  in  a  message 
to  the  Legislature : 

"Our  laws  regard  intermarriage  (with  Japanese)  as 
miscegenation." 

"They  cannot  become  good  American  citizens.  It  is 
useless  to  attempt  to  make  them  such." 

"It  is  useless  to  think  they  can  ever  mix  with  our  peo- 
ple and  become  absorbed  into  our  body  politic." 

In  1905  the  California  Legislature  by  unanimous  vote 
of  Assembly  and  Senate  adopted  and  declared  "that  unre- 
stricted Japanese  immigration  is  a  menace  to  the  State." 

The  Board  of  Education  of  San  Francisco  excluded 
Japanese  from  the  public  schools,  and  the  California  Su- 
preme Court  declared  these  acts  constitutional. 

These  acts  contravene  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  and 
the  Federal  Government  cannot  control  them.  This  atti- 
tude was  first  voiced  by  Governor  Gage  of  California  in 
his  biennial  message  to  the  State  government  in  1900,  and 
anti- Japanese  legislation  also  tentatively  exists  in  the 
state  legislatures  of  Oregon,  Washington,  Nevada,  Ari- 
zona, Colorado,  Wyoming,  Idaho  and  Hawaii. 

Two  platforms  or  political  programmes  in  recent  na- 
tional conventions  included  promised  national  legislation 
against  Asiatics,  which  included  Japanese.  The  candi- 
dates for  the  Presidency  (Independent  and  Democrat) 
were  rejected  at  the  (1908)  election  embodying  this  plat- 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  143 

form,  and  diplomatic  controversy  with  Japan  was,  for  a 
time,  suspended. 

At  the  convention  one  of  the  two  candidates  adopted 
and  incorporated  in  its  platform  such  sentences  as:  "and 
shall  protect  American  civilization  from  the  contamina- 
tion of  Asiatic  conditions." 

*"We  oppose  Asiatic  immigration  .  .  .  which  tends  to 
lower  our  high  standard  of  morality." 

Baron  Hayashi,  Japanese  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
demanded  and  further  stated  that  the  Imperial  Japanese 
Government  would  continue  to  demand  of  the  United 
States  the  same  rights  and  immunities  for  the  Japanese, 
transitory  and  resident  in  the  United  States,  as  are  grant- 
ed the  aliens  of  other  nations  (Italy  for  instance)  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  treaty  stipulations. 

The  legislative  acts  of  the  various  States  have  from 
time  to  time  directly  violated  or  disregarded  the  rights  of 
foreign  nations,  and  the  difficulty  of  the  United  States  to 
continue  in  friendly  relations  with  foreign  nations  is 
recognized  as  a  fixed  quantity  everywhere. 

Why  do  these  conditions  exist?  Because  treaties  are 
violated  or  disregarded  by  State  class  (labor  especially) 
legislation,  lobbyists,  representing  great  corporations 
whose  powers  are  as  great  politically  as  they  are  financ- 
ially, and  the  conflict  of  sectional  State  interests  with 
Federal  policy. 

These,  together  with  the  indifference  of  the  masses, 
to  what  happens  abroad  relating  to  the  tariff  forces  na- 
tional legislation  to  conflict  with  foreign  treaties.  The 


*3%  of  the  male  and  4%  of  the  total  female  population  of  the 
United  States  are  divorced.  In  1895  there  were  10,500  homi- 
cides in  the  United  States;  in  1896,  10,662;  1912,  7.5  per  100,000 
of  population. 


144  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

utter  irresponsibility  and  weakness  of  the  system  can  only 
result  sooner  or  later  in  war. 

The  relations  with  Japan  are  strained  over  this  ques- 
tion. The  United  States  also  arbitrarily  has  prohibited 
the  colonization  by  Japanese  of  a  certain  area  on  the  west 
coast  of  Mexico. 

The  Mexican  government  offered  no  such  objection 
(on  the  contrary  it  courted  such  colonization)  any  more 
so  than  it  objected  to  the  colonization  of  Chihuahua  by 
Mormons,  United  States  citizens,  or  the  development  and 
practical  colonization  of  the  oil  area  (4900  square  miles) 
in  Vera  Cruz  by  United  States  citizens. 

In  other  words  the  United  States  has  said  to  Japan: 
"You  can't  come  here  and  you  can't  go  there.  We  will 
dictate  where  you  may  or  may  not  go." 

In  the  meantime  the  United  States'  expansion  in  the 
Pacific  and  the  fortifications  erected  at  the  doors  of  Japan 
are  offensive,  and  Japan  is  resentful. 

Is  "America"  prepared  to  force  its  issues  ?  Can  "Amer- 
ica" enforce  the  positions  it  has  assumed  ?  Certainly  not ! 
In  its  present  state  of  unpreparedness,  the  "Americans" 
and  not  the  Japanese  are  alone  responsible  for  the  coming 
conflict.  Territorial  America  offers  all  that  is  necessary 
for  the  maintenance  of  its  millions  and  many  millions 
more  to  come.  Japan  is  territorially  cramped  in  compar- 
ison and  must  expand  by  emigration.  The  position  can- 
not be  remedied  by  politics  or  diplomacy  when  millions 
of  men,  devout  in  their  religious  tranquillity,  religious  in 
their  thousands  of  years  of  dynastic  law  and  content  in 
their  pitiful  poverty,  yet  fierce  in  their  warlike  heredity, 
demand  the  opportunity  to  expand  and  that  demand  is 
denied  them  by  a  people  who  cannot  enforce  the  denial. 

The  recent  military  victories  of  these  silent  Asiatics 
over  China  and  Russia  were  great  lessons.  So  was  the 


AT    THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  145 

development  of  the  fighting  strength  of  the  Bulgarian 
army  in  western  Europe  last  year.  In  two  decades  of 
secret  preparation  the  lesson  was  told  to  an  incredulous 
world  and  then  forgotten.  Since  Japan  sprung  to  modern 
military  efficiency  in  two  decades,  how  much  more  efficient 

may  it  become  in  two  more  decades? 

« 

Japan  will  be  the  real  cause  for  the  cessation  of  the 
United  States  evasion  of  international  responsibilities. 
The  causes  for  this  war  even  now  outweigh  the  causes 
for  peace,  hence  the  reason  for  the  former. 

With  nations  of  similar  religious,  political  and  socio- 
logical conditions,  diplomacy  might  answer,  but  here  the 
Occident  and  the  Orient  are  at  variance.  Traditions  of 
thousands  of  years  are  opposed  to  the  political  chicanery 
of  a  few  decades.  Hence  permanent  diplomatic  adjust- 
ment is  impossible. 

Great  Britain  would  not  ally  itself  with  the  United 
States  as  against  Japan  because  of  its  treaty  with  Japan. 

The  treaty  of  1905  between  Great  Britain  and  Japan 
agrees  on : 

"The  maintenance  of  the  territorial  rights  of  the  high 
contracting  parties  in  the  region  of  Eastern  Asia  and 
defence  of  their  special  interests  in  the  said  regions." 

Article  II.  Should  either  ....  be  invaded  in  war  in 
defence  of  ...  special  interests,  the  other  party  will  at 
once  come  to  the  assistance  of  its  ally  and  both  parties 
will  conduct  a  war  in  common  .  .  .  with  any  power  or 
powers  involved  in  such  war." 

Article  VII.  "The  conditions  under  which  armed  as- 
sistance shall  be  offered  by  either  power  will  be  arranged 
by  the  naval  and  military  authorities  of  the  high  contract- 
ing parties,  who  will  from  time  to  time  consult  one  an- 
other fully  and  freely  on  all  questions  of  mutual  interest." 


146  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

The  treaty  is  for  ten  years  and  continues  indefinitely  in 
effect  after  that  period  subject  to  one  year's  renunciation 
by  either  party.  The  ten  years  expire  August  12th,  1915. 

Germany  is  too  busy  in  Europe  to  bother.  France  is 
also  too  busy  in  Europe  and  Africa.  Russia  has  no  Pa- 
cific interests.  Great  Britain  has  an  offensive  and  defen- 
sive alliance  with  Japan,  and  the  only  reason  for  peace  is 
commercialism. 

The  common  argument  is  that  Japan  has  not  the  money 
wherewith  to  make  war.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that 
Japan  pays  its  interest  and  has  good  credit,  whereas  many 
States  of  this  Union  have  defaulted  interest  and  repay- 
ment of  capital  to  foreign  creditors  in  sums  amounting 
to  millions.  Not  only  defaulted  but  repudiated.  In  Eu- 
rope, Japan  can  borrow  colossal  sums  if  forced  to  do  so. 

The  factors,  of  the  fundamental  principle,  that  are 
causing  Japan  to  change  are  invisible  at  the  moment.  The 
change  is  unconscious  and  extends  over  decades,  but  will 
stand  out  sharply  defined  later  in  history  as  having  culmi- 
nated, perhaps,  between  1880  and  1940. 

Political  transformations  and  war  have  not  always  been 
the  precursor  of  the  'fall  of  empires,  nor  have  the  spark- 
ling events  in  history,  nor  the  violence  of  them,  solely 
impressed  the  world.  It  has  been  the  modification  of  ideas 
and  the  change  of  thought  that  has  chiefly  determined  the 
historical  events  which  have  crystallized  into  substantial 
history,  in  the  looking  backward  on  their  full  develop- 
ment. 

Japan  is  in  the  epoch  of  transition  and  has  been  so  for 
forty  years  and  the  collective  psychological  law  of  mental 
unity  prevails  in  Japan,  antagonistic  in  its  relations  and 
attitude  towards  the  United  States. 

Individual  opinion  counts  for  nothing  when  the  masses 


AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT  147 

mentally  or  physically  collect.  The  psychology  is  such 
that  mental  unity  is  collective  in  masses  and  forms  in  its 
entirety  a  new  and  powerful  creation. 

The  mind  of  the  Japanese  is  peculiarly  sensitive  to  such 
phenomena  and  the  day  that  incubation  matures  will  be 
the  day  for  preparedness.  The  nature  of  the  suggestion 
will  make  Japan  of  one  mind  regardless  of  the  superior 
intelligence  of  individuals  apart  from  agglomeration. 

Count  von  Reventlow,  a  noted  writer  on  naval  matters 
and  one  of  the  mouthpieces  of  the  German  land  barons 
and  who  has  great  influence  with  the  German  govern- 
ment, said  in  April,  1914: 

"It  is  undeniable  that  President  Wilson's  Mexican 
policy  has  caused  much  ill  will  in  influential  commercial 
circles  in  Germany  and  the  United  States  no  longer 
enjoys  the  sympathy  of  Germany  as  it  did  in  the  past." 

Count  von  Reventlow  advocates  a  closer  understanding 
between  Germany  and  Japan.  The  newspapers  are  taking 
up  the  subject  of  the  relations  of  the  United  States  and 
Japan.  The  Deutsches  Tagezeitung  in  an  editorial  article 
issues  a  strong  warning  against  Germany  allowing  herself 
to  be  played  against  Japan  during  the  present  dispute  be- 
tween the  latter  country  and  the  United  States  over  the 
alien  land  question. 

The  Vienna  Journal,  one  of  the  most  influential  news- 
papers at  the  Austrian  capital,  editorially  reviews  the 
events  between  Japan  and  the  United  States  which  have 
led  up  to  the  present  situation,  and  says  the  danger  of 
war  between  these  two  countries  is  greater  than  ever 
before.  The  paper  points  out  that  in  case  Japan  decides 
on  war  it  would  be  to  her  advantage  to  act  before  the 
Panama  canal  is  opened.  The  indications  are,  it  said,  that 
Japan  will  secretly  assist  President  Huerta  of  Mexico 


148  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

with  war  materials  and  money.  The  paper  concludes  by 
saying  Japan  will  shut  out  the  United  States  and  send  her 
emigrants  to  Mexico,  which  will  create  a  new  danger  for 
the  United  States.* 

The  understanding  between  Japan  and  the  Huerta 
Government  was  appreciated  by  the  United  States  Charge 
d'Affaires  at  Mexico  when  he  sent  the  following  cable  to 
the  Administration  at  Washington  in  March : 

"The  officers  of  the  Japanese  battleship  will  reach  Mex- 
ico City  next  week  and  will  be  entertained  in  Mexico  of- 
ficially by  Huerta  and  his  government  with  extravagant 
expressions  of  welcome  and  friendship.  The  incident  at 
this  time  is  significant  and  unfortunate.  I  think  I  see  in 
this  carefully  timed  incident  the  fine  hand  of  Sir  Lionel 
Garden." 

This  cable  aroused  the  State  Department  from  a  con- 
dition of  lethargy. 


*Especially  so  in  the  event  of  military  combination. 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  149 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

This  Republic  is  oblivious  to  the  vast  military  and 
naval  power  of  Japan,  to  the  hereditary  militant  char- 
acter of  its  people,  who  for  a  thousand  years  have  lived 
in  the  shadows  of  their  armored  war  ideals.  It  is  obliv- 
ious to  the  black  cloud  of  the  tempest  that  is  rumbling  in 
the  West  and  to  preliminary  flashes  of  that  tempest, 
personified  in  the  Japanese  secret  service  emissaries 
who  are  occasionally  caught  in  the  fortresses  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  with  United  States  military  data  in  their 
possession;  to  the  shipments  to  Japan  of  high  class  war 
material  such  as  is  not  in  practical  use  in  any  military 
or  naval  arsenal  of  this  government;  Vanadium  steel 
deck  plates,  gun  shields  and  projectiles  for  instance.  It 
is  oblivious  to  the  fact  that  91, OCX)  Japanese  today  occupy 
the  Hawaiian  Islands ;  59,000  Japanese,  98  per  cent  men 
of  between  18  and  40  years  of  age  are  on  the  west  coast 
of  Mexico,  a  large  percentage  conscript  trained,  and 
130,000  on  the  Pacific  Coast  between  the  Canadian  and 
Mexican  frontiers.  The  nucleus  of  an  excellent  army  on 
mobilization  for  Pacific  Coast  occupation. 

Los  Angeles  is  defenceless  to  a  landing  in  its  vicinity, 
the  occupation  of  which  means  the  submission  of  all 
smaller  towns  from  the  Coast,  east  to  the  boundary  line 
of  the  desert  and  from  San  Diego  to  within  gun  range  of 
San  Francisco. 

These  smaller  towns  are  defenceless  because  they  are 
dependent  on  Los  Angeles  which  has  the  majority  of 
wealth  and  population  of  Southern  California. 


150  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

Strategically  no  fortification  can  defend  Los  Angeles 
from  a  land  attack,  due  to  the  topography  of  the  adjacent 
country,  and  must  capitulate  immediately  the  hills  in  its 
vicinity  were  occupied  by  an  enemy. 

Fort  Rosecrans  at  Point  Loma,  San  Diego,  may  be 
disregarded  entirely.  It  would  be  ignored  by  an  enemy 
and  must  capitulate  for  the  mere  reason  of  its  isolation. 
The  control  or  the  destruction  of  the  Santa  Fe  single  • 
line  of  railroad  between  Los  Angeles  and  San  Diego 
would  clinch  the  isolation,  although  its  destruction  would 
be  unnecessary,  as  it  might  be  used  for  the  transportation 
of  Japanese  allies  from  the  South. 

Japan's  large  and  fast  mercantile  fleet  will  be  used  for 
the  transportation  of  troops.  It  being  now  possible  to  land 
a  quarter  of  a  million  trained  men  within  a  few  weeks  on 
the  Pacific  coast.  The  first  unit  of  the  army,  consisting 
of  a  hundred  thousand  men,  within  four  weeks,  landing 
in  the  State  of  Washington ;  the  second  and  third  division, 
landing  in  rapid  succession  in  Central  and  Southern  Cali- 
fornia. 

To  mobilize  and  transport  a  United  States  army  with 
its  equipment  and  impedimenta,  to  repulse  any  one  of 
these  divisions,  would  take  from  four  to  six  months. 
Japan  in  time  alone,  is  forty  per  cent  nearer  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  that  the  flower  of  the  United  States  army  and 
possesses  greater  facility  in  placing  its  military  units,  in 
that  water  transportation  is  superior  to  the  single  track 
railroads  which  must  be  employed  by  United  States  troops 
from  the  East. 

It  seems  incredible  that  without  the  least  ^obstruction 
Japan  can  place  an  army  corps  on  the  Pacific  Coast  in 
a  shorter  time  than  it  would  take  to  march  a  third  of 
that  force  from  Los  Angeles  to  the  environs  of  San 
Francisco. 


AT    THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  151 

The  under-gunned  and  under-manned  fortifications  on 
the  Pacific  coast  (excepting  San  Francisco)  will  all  be 
taken  by  a  military  assault  from  the  land  side  and  long 
before  any  army  with  adequate  equipment  from  the  East 
can  attempt  to  prevent  an  occupation,  Oregon  and  Wash- 
ington, Northern,  Central  and  Southern  California  will 
be  in  possession  of  the  enemy. 

It  will  be  at  this  period  that  the  58,000  (fifty-eight 
thousand)  Japanese  now  domiciled  in  Mexico  and  the 
100,000  (one  hundred  thousand)  Japanese  of  military  age 
now  on  the  Pacific  Coast  between  the  Mexican  and  Can- 
adian frontiers,  will  attempt  to  mobilize. 

This,  taken  in  connection  with  a  warlike  condition  ex- 
isting in  Mexico,  will  make  the  position  even  more 
difficult.  Where  will  the  80,000  or  100,000  trained  and 
untrained  men  constituting  the  army  of  defense  be  sent? 
To  which  point? 

Concentrate  them  in  any  one  of  the  Pacific  Coast  cen- 
ters of  Japanese  occupation  and  the  other  centers  remain 
undefended. 

Split  the  force  and  it  is  out-numbered  and  out-gener- 
alled  by  topography  alone. 

Centralia,  Washington,  will  be  the  objective  point.  De- 
barkation will  take  place  on  the  open  beaches  near  Grey's 
Harbor,  out  of  gun  range  of  any  fortification.  Centralia 
commands  Seattle,  Portland,  Tacoma  and  Olympia,  with 
all  the  fortifications  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river 
and  Puget  sound. 

None  of  these  fortifications  will  prevent  such  a  landing 
and  today  are  quite  ineffective. 

Bremerton  and  the  U.  S.  Navy  Yard  is  less  than  two 
days  and  the  rest  less  than  seven  days  march  from  Cen- 
tralia, the  Japanese  center,  with  Seattle  their  left  and 
Portland  their  right  flanks. 


152  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

The  military  value  of  the  Columbia  river  and  the  great 
inland  harbors,  the  latter  accessible  through  the  Strait  of 
Juan  de  Fuca,  will  be  fully  realized  by  the  enemy. 

The  ports  protecting  these  harbors  have  less  combined 
artillery  power  than  the  Japanese  battle  ship  "Kongo" 
alone,  and  under  the  scheme  of  investment  will  never 
fire  a  gun  for  the  reason  that  the  whole  system  of  defense 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  is  obsolete  and  poor  strategically. 

Southern  California  is  even  in  a  worse  position.  Its 
area  covers  75  per  cent  of  desert  and  mountains.  The 
trend  of  the  mountain  chain,  the  San  Rafael,  San  Gabriel 
and  San  Bernardino,  is  generally  Northwesterly  and 
Southeasterly,  except  the  San  Jacinto  range,  which  is 
nearly  North  and  South.  These  ranges  form  an  Easterly 
flank  some  forty  miles  from  the  ocean  and  within  its 
boundaries  there  exists  one  of  the  most  fertile  territories 
in  the  world. 

The  army  of  occupation  will  have  possession  of  this 
territory. 

To  the  East,  and  in  the  rear  of  these  great  natural  bar- 
riers are  the  Colorado  and  Mojave  deserts.  The  Colorado 
desert  is,  in  places,  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  feet  be- 
low sea  level.  Sand  and  salt.  The  Mojave;  silica,  alkali 
and  volcanic  intrusions,  the  latter  showing  their  black 
necks  and  eroded  cores  over  thousands  of  square  miles. 
A  climate  both  frigid  and  torrid ;  waterless  at  the  sur- 
face, a  portion  of  the  globe  that  is  dead.  It  is  across  this 
desert  that  relief  must  come  to  Southern  California  from 
the  East  to  scale  the  barren  walls  of  these  mountains  four 
to  eight  thousand  feet  high  from  the  desert.  This  wall 
has  a  front  over  three  hundred  miles  long.  The  nearest 
water  is  over  130  miles  to  the  East  in  the  rear  of  the  re- 


n 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  153 

lieving  force,  and  its  base  one  thousand  miles  in  its  rear 
acros  the  desert. 

There  are  three  passes  through  these  mountains,  viz: 
The  Saugus  Pass,  at  the  junction  of  the  San  Raphael  and 
San  Gabriel  mountains ;  the  Cajon  Pass,  dividing  the  San 
Gabriel  and  San  Bernardino  range  and  the  San  Jacinto 
Pass  at  the  north  junction  of  the  Santa  Rosa  spur  and 
the  San  Jacinto  range. 

The  first  movement  of  the  Japanese  will  be  to  control 
these  passes  and  this  would  occur  before  relief  could  be 
attempted. 

As  the  vast  natural  resources  of  Southern  California, 
profligate  in  their  luxuriance,  will  be  in  their  rear,  it  will 
mean  capitulation  of  that  sphere  without  a  fight. 

The  stragetic  position  is  impossible  to  overcome.  The 
same  applies  to  Central  California  with  the  command  of 
the  apex  and  west  side  of  the  Tehachapi  Pass,  in  the 
Tehachapi  Mountains.  With  the  exception  of  the  latter, 
all  the  other  passes  are  within  four  days  march  of  Los 
Angeles. 

Rapid  contentration  of  force  to  any  one  point  can  be 
made  in  a  few  hours  from  the  West  or  Japanese  side. 
From  the  East  of  the  mountains,  or  relief  side,  the  same 
movement  will  take  weeks. 

In  the  meantime  the  Hawaiian  Islands  will  be  taken 
from  within,  occupied  and  formed  into  a  base  of  Japanese 
naval  operations.  The  Philippines  will  pass  simultane- 
ously with  the  first  gun  fire.  The  capitulation  of  San 
Francisco  will  depend  on  its  water  supply  being  defended 
and  the  possibility  of  its  defense  will  be  dependent  on  the 
first  occupation  of  the  Truckee  Valley  on  the  Central 
Pacifiic  Railroad. 

If  the  Pilarcitos,  San  Andreas  and  the  Crystal  Springs 
reservoirs  are  attacked  by  the  army  of  invasion  of  Cen- 


154  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

tral  California  and  the  sources  of  supply  in  the  San  Mateo 
mountains  are  controlled  by  the  Japanese,  the  occupation 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  in  its  entirety  will  be  complete  long 
before  the  arrival  of  the  first  United  States  army  of 
defense. 

These  conditions  are  possible  now  and  remain  possible 
even  if  Japan  declared  war  before  its  first  army  of  in- 
vasion left  Japanese  waters.* 

The  probability  of  their  success  is  intensified  by  a 
sharp  descent  without  warning,  in  view  of  the  chaotic 
state  of  military  unpreparedness  of  the  United  States  and 
with  its  next  to  useless  militia  forming  a  part  of  the  first 
line  of  military  efficiency,  officered,  as  it  necessarily  must 
be,  by  civil  and  politician-generals,  in  a  modern  war, 
against  modern  armaments  and  training  and  against  sol- 
diers whose  women  look  upon  their  return  from  battle  in 
the  light  of  a  digrace,  and  whose  religion  alone  is  an  in- 
centive to  court  death  on  the  field. 

It  is  probable  that  none  of  this  will  occur,  but  the  ques- 
tion arises :  Why  should  the  existing  state  of  military  un- 
preparedness continue,  by  leaving  open  a  door  on  the 
dangerous  side? 


*These  strategic  positions  were  first  brought  to  the  notice  of 
the  writer  by  reading  Homer  Lea's  "Valor  of  Ignorance,"  Har- 
per and  Brothers,  publishers.  Prior  to  reading  Mr.  Lea's  book 
the  writer  spent  some  years  on  these  deserts  and  in  these  moun- 
tains and  subsequently  personally  visited  every  pass,  mountain 
range,  fortification  and  city  mentioned  herein  in  order  to  sub- 
stantiate Mr.  Lea's  conclusions,  which  beyond  doubt  are  correct. 


AT   THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  155 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  skeptic  will  ask :  But  what  about  the  Navy  ?  That 
question  is  easily  answered  in  this  connection.  It  is  divid- 
ed at  this  moment  between  two  oceans.  The  majority  of 
its  units  are  on  the  Atlantic  and  are  unavailable  for  the 
defense  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Only  one  port  for  crippled 
ships  to  repair  and  no  available  coal  except  that  from  the 
Atlantic  coast  or  foreign  sources.  What  the  conflict  be- 
tween the  navies  will  develop  on  their  confronting  each 
other  off  the  Pacific  Coast  after  the  Japanese  invasion 
of  it,  is  dependent  on  the  fortune  of  war,  modern  equip- 
ment and  brilliant  handling  of  the  respective  forces.  Win 
or  lose  the  result  will  spell  disaster,  as  the  Navy  could 
not  expel  the  invaders  once  they  are  in  possession  of  the 
Pacific  Coast.  Even  at  this  moment  Japanese  artillerists 
are  with  the  Mexican  forces  on  the  United  States  fron- 
tier at  Mexacali,  California,  awaiting  the  Mexican  issue. 

Something  akin  to  polite  ill  feeling  has  developed  in 
Europe  and  it  is  demonstrated  by  certain  European 
powers  pointedly  ignoring  the  coming  Panama  Exposi- 
tion at  San  Francisco. 

The  vital  national  questions  of  the  moment  involve  the 
Japanese  situation  and  its  complexities  due  to  the  contra- 
vention of  a  treaty ;  the  Mexican  situation ;  the  Panama 
Canal  fortification  and  toll  question  involving  the  contra- 
vention of  a  treaty.  The  financing  of  Nicaragua  by 
Brown  Brothers  and  the  Morgan  Syndicate  (another 
story).  The  internal  strike  question  which  again  devel- 
oped in  Colorado  in  which  hundreds  were  shot  and  many 


156  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

killed  in  open  conflict  with  State  troops  which  is  tanta- 
mount to  an  armed  revolutionary  condition. 

The  country  appears  impotent  to  prevent  such  occur- 
ences  and  the  State  to  quell  them,  so  the  politicians  wal- 
low about  in  a  confused  sea  of  internal  and  international 
misunderstandings  that  can  only  mature  in  terrific  strife 
for  their  final  adjustments. 

Diplomatic  "America"  has  arrived  at  the  edge  of  the 
pit. 

Whisps  that  show  the  angle  of  the  wind,  columned 
eddies  precursors  of  a  storm. 


AT   THE    EDGE    OF   THE    PIT 


157 


COMPARATIVE  NAVIES  OF  1914 

EFFECTIVE  FIGHTING  FLEETS. 

UNITED  STATES.  *JAPAN. 

Classification                              Built  Bld'g  Built      Bld'g 

Battleships 33  4  17          1 

Battle  Cruisers 4 

Armored  Cruisers 14        13 

Protected,  first  class 3         2 

light   . 

second  class 15         13 

third  class  4 

Unprotected    3        4 

Scouts    3 

Torpedo  Vessels 2        3 

Torpedo  Boat  Destroyers...    46  14  59 

Torpedo  Boats 22        50 

Submarines  25  22  13           2 

Compliment 64,780  Compliment   51,054 

Reserve  Militia   7,526  Reserve 114,000 

Appropriation  for  1914,  Expenditure  for  1914 

about  $140,800,000.  $46,500.000. 

No  efficient  foreign  mer-  Large  mercantile  ma- 

cantile  marine.  rine  available  for  trans- 
ports and  coalers. 


*The  British-built  battle-cruiser,  Kongo,  is  the  only  armored 
vessel  completed  for  this  power  during  the  past  twelve  months. 
Designed  and  built  by  Messrs.  Vickers,  the  Kongo  carries  eight 
14-inch  and  sixteen  6-inch  guns  on  a  displacement  of  27,500  tons, 
and  is  therefore  the  largest  and  most  powerful  armed  battle- 
cruiser  yet  completed.  Three  sister  ships,  the  Haruna,  Hiyei, 
and  Kirishima,  are  under  construction  in  Japan,  as  well  as  the 
battleship  Fuso,  and  three  other  vessels  of  the  same  type  whose 
names  have  not  yet  transpired.  These  ships  were  originally 
credited  with  an  armament  of  ten  15-inch  guns,  but  it  is  now 
understood  they  will  carry  twelve  14-inch  and  sixteen  6-inch. 


158  AT   THE   EDGE   OF   THE   PIT 

COMPARATIVE  STANDING  OF  THE  Two  ARMIES  AT  THIS 

DATE,  1914. 
UNITED  STATES. 

Regular  establishment,  84,869. 

Annual  cost  not  including  fortifications  or  military 
academy,  $94,266,145  or  $1,110.72  per  annum  per  man. 

Total  organized  militia,  122,674.  Cost  defrayed  by  in- 
dividual States ;  unknown. 

System  voluntary. 

Unorganised  militia  reserve,  all  able  bodied  men  be- 
tween 18  and  40.  Cost,  no  record. 

JAPAN. 

War  strength  first  and  second  line  forces  only,  active 
army  980,000. 

Annual  cost  $48,800,000  or  $49.79  per  man  per  annum. 
Reserves — 

Second  Reserve,  2,000,000. 

Third  Reserve,  all  able  to  bear  arms. 

System,  2  to  3  years.   Conscription,  no  substitution. 

Had  1,500,000  men  engaged  in  war  against  Russia — 
1904. 


AT   THE   EDGE    OF   THE    PIT  159 


June,  1914. — "The  Japanese  cruiser  Idzuma,  cleared 
for  action,  sir,  is  bearing  this  way." 

It  was  the  night  after  the  battle  of  Vera  Cruz. 

The  lookout  on  the  bridge  of  the  flagship  California,  at 
anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Mazatlan,  on  the  west  coast  of 
Mexico,  made  the  report  to  the  officer  of  the  deck. 

Admiral  Howard,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Pacific 
squadron,  was  notified. 

"War  with  Mexico"  was  pending. 

But  why  should  a  cruiser  of  Japan,  a  neutral  power, 
come  into  a  Mexican  port  ready  to  give  battle? 

This  was  the  question  that  Admiral  Howard  asked  at 
once  of  Captain  Muriama  of  the  Idzuma. 

Captain  Muriama's  answer  was  evasive. 

But  his  little  brown  men,  stripped  to  the  waist,  were  on 
the  battle  deck. 

The  situation  developed  to  a  crisis  three  hours  later 
when  the  lights  of  the  Japanese  cruiser,  which  had  been 
burning  brightly,  were  suddenly  put  out. 

From  forecastle  to  quarterdeck  the  ship  was  in  com- 
plete darkness. 

The  act  in  itself,  in  a  neutral  harbor,  was  a  hostile  one. 

Admiral  Howard  got  his  men  to  their  gun  stations. 

Throughout  the  long  night,  the  crew  of  the  California 
stood  by,  waiting. 

The  next  day  five  of  Uncle  Sam's  torpedo  flotilla 
steamed  into  the  harbor  of  Mazatlan. 

They  took  station,  by  order  of  Admiral  Howard,  in  the 
form  of  an  arc,  well  in  toward  the  Idzuma. 


160  AT   THE    EDGE   OF   THE    PIT 

Warlike  preparations  on  the  Japanese  cruiser  ceased. 

There  was  nothing  more  to  be  said. 

War  with  Mexico  was  not  declared.  The  occupation  of 
Vera  Cruz  did  not  lead  to  an  invasion  of  Mexico,  as  was 
at  first  feared. 

But  10,000  bluejackets  and  marines  of  the  Pacific 
squadron  are  still  wondering  what  part  would  have  been 
played  by  the  Mikado's  empire  if  there  had  been  a  war. 

Admiral  Howard  reported  the  Iclzuma  incident  to  the 
navy  department  just  as  it  occurred.  If  any  diplomatic 
correspondence  on  this  delicate  subject  was  ever  ex- 
changed between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  it  has 
never  come  to  light. 

Captain  Muriama,  schooled  in  Japanese  diplomacy,  has 
been  silent  on  the  subject. 

He  has  taken  every  opportunity  to  assure  "His  Excel- 
lency, Admiral  Howard,  of  the  distinguished  considera- 
tion of  His  Majesty  the  Mikado  of  Japan." — Suppressed 
news  telegraphed  by  the  United  Press. 


LllT 


lrfS 


£  I 


II 


L  005  489  488  6 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000793565    3 


-IIBRARY^        AV\E-UNIVERS/A      ^UK-A 

A     j  _^  •?»          «.  *-»  >r>       <s?    ^MW 


